Blood Queen Behind The Scenes
by emmapetran0990
Summary: PART OF MY CANON COLLECTION. Ever wonder about the actors and actresses who play your favorite characters in Blood Queen? Well, wait no more. This selection of stories will feature the cast of my spin-off of the Vampire Diaries. Ian/OC. CHAPTERS 1-3 UPDATED!
1. Amaryllis

**Disclaimer: I do not own the TVD books or show, only OC characters and Sophia King.**

* * *

It was an early day in March when Sophia King got out of bed. As she passed several pictures of her and her boyfriend, Ian Somerhalder, in New York City, Milan, Paris, and London, she pulled on some yoga pants and a tank top. Before she passed through the French doors that led to the backyard, she looked back at Ian sleeping peacefully. She smiled slightly before walking outside to begin her morning run. After she ran half an hour around the neighborhood and managed to shake the paparazzi that had been following her, Sophia walked back into her house and went to the bathroom. She was in desperate need of a shower. As she cooled off, Sophia realized that she and Ian had been dating for _seven_ years. How crazy was that? They were practically married already. However, they'd known each other much longer than that. Right when they both started their modeling careers. Currently, Sophia had a new job with the CW, a lead role in The Vampire Diaries. The production team was still working on casting a few last characters before the pilot episode would be shot. Ian was pursing a role in the venture as well. Halfway through Sophia's shower, Ian slinked into the shower and wrapped his arms around Sophia's waist.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Good morning, princess. I got it."

"What?" Sophia's eyes widened. "You got the part?"

"The network just called as you came in. They said yes."

"That's awesome!" Sophia yelled, hugging her boyfriend.

"They've finished casting for the pilot. They want everybody up in Vancouver by the 18th."

"Oh, this is so great, Ian. We finally get to work on a project together."

"I have a feeling this one's going to special, Soph."

"I hope so."

A week later, Sophia was in New York doing some press with Fox & Friends.

"Now for some entertainment this week. We have with us the beautiful and talented Sophia King." The audience clapped as Sophia walked onto the stage and the actress sat down on the couch next to Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade.

"It's wonderful to have you back on the show," said Gretchen.

"Well thank you for having me. It's great to be here. I absolutely adore New York."

"That's right. You started your career in New York," Steve Doocy said.

"Correct. I worked in one of the modeling houses for a couple years. Lots of different designers."

"That's how you met your boyfriend, Ian Somerhalder, right?" Brian asked.

"Yes. We worked in two houses that were right across the street from each other. He had a little bit more experience than me at the time so he was a great person to get advice from. Then I got recruited by Victoria's Secret after a fashion show in Milan and I did work for them in 1998 and on and off since then. Ian and I kind of grew apart at that time and we didn't really start dating until 2002 when I was working on the Chicago film."

"So how did you transition from modeling to film?" Gretchen asked.

"Well, I really love modeling, but I realized very soon in my career that it wasn't what I expected. The models were becoming increasingly thinner, almost to the point that it was dangerous. When I first started professionally modeling, I was a size four I believe and by the time I got toward the end of my career, I was a size two and they were practically demanding that I get down to a size zero."

"That is crazy. You are absolutely stunning."

"That was what I disliked the most about it. Right now, I'm a size six and I couldn't be happier with where I am right now, but I swear, the clothes they put on me looked bigger than my body. I looked like I was just drowning in fabric." The reporters and audience laughed. "I think that moment was when I decided I needed to make a change so I started taking acting classes and I absolutely fell in love with it. And one day, I was approached by a wonderful man, Frank Montgomery, my agent. He is awesome. He's one of the best agents in L.A. Honestly, if it hadn't been for him, I don't think I would've been as successful in acting as I am right now."

"Well, you've landed some really big motion pictures. Won three Critic's Choice Awards, three Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, 2 BAFTA Awards, and three Academy Awards. That is quite an accomplishment at your age," said Steve.

"Thank you. And I don't want anyone to get the impression that that was easy. When I first started looking for acting jobs, it was extremely difficult. There's this kind of preconceived notion that models can't act. We just look pretty," Emma chuckled.

"Well, you are very beautiful."

"Thank you. For six months, I was really depressed because I couldn't get a job and like I said before that was when I met Frank Montgomery and he wanted to sign me. He'd seen me in auditions. He thought I was wonderful and he was really responsible for landing me my first gig, which was Erin Brockovich. Great film. Very fun. And after that it became a lot easier to get a job because that film was a big hit. And it really put my name out there to directors, to producers, to basically the film-making community. And I've done five films since then and they'll all been very successful."

"Of course the last film you did was the Bond film, Quantum of Solace. How does that feel being a Bond girl?"

"All I can say is I'm very lucky and very thankful for the people I've met and for the people in my life that have supported me."

"Well, we have created a little montage of some of the films that you've been in and we'd like you to tell us which one was your favorite for whatever reasons," said Gretchen.

"Oh, that's wonderful." The video then played.

"You want my number?" Sophia asked as Erin Brockovich in the 2000 film.

"I do."

"How about this for a number? Six. That's how old my daughter is. Eight is the age of my son. Two is how many times I've been divorced. And sixteen is the number of dollars I have in my bank account."

"I was there the night you got arrested," said Renee Zellweger in the film Chicago to Sophia's character, Velma.

"Yeah, you and half of Chicago, honey." The scenery then changed to the 1800s south. The 2003 film, Cold Mountain.

"So much time has passed since you left," said Sophia as Ada Monroe. "This war is lost on the battlefield and has been twice over lost by those who stayed behind. Are you alive? I pray to God you are. If you are fighting, stop fighting. If you are marching, stop marching. I will not leave Cold Mountain. My last thread of courage is to wait for you. When this war is over, there will be a reckoning."

"Mr. Dunn?" Sophia asked as Maggie Fitzgerald in Million Dollar Baby.

"Do I owe you money?" Clint Eastwood asked as Frankie Dunn.

"No, sir. I thought you might be interested in training me."

"I don't train girls."

"People who've seen me fight say I'm pretty tough."

"Girlie, tough ain't enough."

"I need to get home tonight," said Sophia as Miranda Priestly in her latest film The Devil Wears Prada.

"No one is flying out because of the weather," said Anne Hathaway, playing Andy Sachs.

"Please. It's just I don't know…drizzling," Miranda replied as lightning struck.

"Have you lost somebody?" Sophia asked as Camille Montes in Quantum of Solace.

"I did," Daniel Craig replied as James Bond.

"Did you ever catch who did it?"

"No. Not yet."

"Tell me when you do. I'd like to know how it feels."

The whole audience, reporters, and Sophia clapped as the video ended.

"That film was really intense. A lot of stunt work," Sophia admitted.

"So which one was your favorite and why?"

"Oh, gosh. That's so hard after seeing them all on screen again. Um, if I had to make a choice I think I'd say Cold Mountain. That had a great crew, great cast. I loved working with Renee Zellweger again and speaking of great casts, Million Dollar Baby had a great cast too. Clint Eastwood, genius of a man. He took me under his wing when we worked on that project. And he kind of became a mentor for me. He actually got me started on looking at television programs to audition for and his advice kind of steered me toward the project I'm working on now."

"That would be The Vampire Diaries, correct?" Brian asked.

"Yes."

"And what can you tell us about that?"

"Oh gosh. Not much. We're only shooting the pilot episode up in Vancouver. And once that gets filmed, the CW is going to decide whether they want to pick the show up or not."

"So this whole job kind of hinges on this pilot?" Gretchen asked.

"Yeah, that's how it is in television. It's a little bit different compared to film. It's a different schedule. It's a different style. And I don't know much about the crew, but the cast looks absolutely wonderful. From what I've seen from the audition tapes, a lot of great, solid acting. A lot of break-out actors."

"So most of us here know that this show is about vampires. Is there anything else you can tell us to kind of flesh it out?" Gretchen asked.

"There's a few things. I have to be careful with my word choice or Julie Plec, one of the executive producers and writers, might axe me, but she has given me permission to tell you a few things. It is about vampires, but more importantly it's about relationships. It really centers around these three characters Stefan Salvatore played by Paul Wesley, Damon Salvatore played by Ian Somerhalder, and Emma Petrova who is played by myself."

"So you and Ian are both working on this?"

"Yeah. We're very excited. It's the first time we've been able to work on something together. We're both really looking forward to it. This show kind of began when the CW acquired this material written by L.J. Smith called "The Vampire Diaries." It was a series of novels written in the 90s. And since we kind of got into this whole Twilight, True Blood vampire craze, the CW wanted to stake out their own territory. Which in my opinion isn't unreasonable or shouldn't be criticized as it has. I know there's been a lot of talk about oh, it's Twilight, oh, it's True Blood. It's…it's really not…once you get past the first ten pages of the script. And I think one reason for it not being like Twilight or True Blood is that my character doesn't exist in the books. The writers are loosely following the books, making it their own."

"So how did you hear about the show?"

"Frank Montgomery called me and I was currently in England. Ian was working on finishing up on The Tournament and Frank told me about a talk he'd had with Julie Plec. He told me about this show that they wanted to do. There were only two things that had to come out of his mouth and I was hooked. Vampires. Kevin Williamson. I instantly wanted to work on this. I love the vampire genre and Kevin Williamson is a genius of a man. I mean who wouldn't want to work for the guy that created Dawson's Creek. But there was a problem. One, they weren't looking for big names. I had been in a lot of big films. Ian had been in Lost. And two, we were late in the casting. Since we'd been in England, we had both missed a meeting about this show months earlier. So we both didn't know if we were going to get parts."

"So how did you two get cast?"

"Well, we didn't go through the usual channels. Frank gave me Julie's number and I called her. She about dropped the phone when I told her who I was. I told her I was interested, that Ian and I both were. Ian's worked with the CW before. And I said, Julie, I know we're late in the casting process, but what parts, if any, do you have? And she said the only two characters that had been one hundred percent truly cast, it'd been approved by the network, were Elena and Jeremy Gilbert played by Nina Dobrev and Steven McQueen. So Julie sent both of us scripts. We looked over the characters. Ian automatically wanted Damon, who is kind of this smug vampire who can go from playful to evil in a second. I got to tease him a lot for that one. 'Cause you know they killed him in Lost and now he'd be playing a dead guy, but I knew he'd have a lot of fun with it because he's never really played a bad boy. So that was the character he shot for. When I read the script, I was drawn to the second female lead, Emma Petrova. And I called Julie and I said who is this Emma girl? I'd read the first couple books to kind of get an idea of what the story was about, what the mood was. And there was no character named Emma Petrova. It was a character that solely Julie and Kevin had created. Amazing, powerful character. She's kind of the object of passion for Stefan and Damon. She's a vampire herself. Much older than the two boys. And she is…she is very interesting. Unlike any other character I've played. So it was funny when I went into casting because Ian, Nina, Paul, they all had this source material they could draw off of. I had nothing. They sent me a copy of the script and I really had to make the character my own and portray her as I envisioned her. So I went into Julie and Kevin's office. They were so nervous when I came in. And I said guys, why are you nervous? And Julie came up to me and said it's an honor to meet you. I said guys, you don't have to be nervous. I'm not a real vampire."

Everyone in the studio laughed.

"Kind of cut through the tension, huh?" Gretchen asked.

"Yeah, and we started the audition. It went well. I did two scenes, I believe. And they wanted me, so they went to the network and said this is our Emma Petrova. So I did an audition for the network, but I wasn't officially cast after that because they didn't know who was going to play Damon and Stefan. And they wanted to make sure I had chemistry with whoever was cast in those parts, especially with Damon. So I never really got an official notification until probably the middle of March, which was when Ian was cast as Damon. That was a grueling process for him. I don't know how many auditions he went through. It was tough on him, emotionally, physically. Landing this pilot is really the opportunity of a lifetime for both of us. And that's really all I can tell you until the pilot gets picked up and then _maybe_ Julie will let me tell you a little bit more."

"Well, thank you so much for coming on the show, Sophia. Sophia King, everyone."

After Sophia's appearance on Fox, she took the next flight out of New York to Vancouver where she met Ian at the airport.

"Hey, I saw you on TV," Ian said after greeting his girlfriend with a kiss.

"Did you now?"

"You were stunning."

"Thank you."

"Julie also wanted me to tell you that she was very pleased you didn't let out to many spoilers."

"Part of the job."

"Speaking of jobs, we have to go to work."

"Music to my ears. This is going to be awesome."

Later that day, Sophia walked onto the set and met most of the cast. A lot of them were nervous about working with the famous Sophia King, but with her usual bubbly charm, they all became more comfortable. Over the next few days, Sophia and Ian worked extremely hard on their parts, but the days weren't just all work and no play. They made sure they had some fun as well.

During the scene in the opera house, the crew had had some problems with the crows, but the most awkward, yet funniest time they had had was the shower scene at the end of the episode. Ian was behind her and had accidently drooled on her.

"Oh, crap. I think I drooled on you," said Ian.

"That's cause she's hot!" Stephen McQueen yelled. Ian and Sophia burst out laughing.

"That's one way to make a naked scene less awkward," Paul muttered.

"Oh my God. I love this cast," Sophia laughed.


	2. Love Alone

It was official! The Vampire Diaries had been picked up by the CW. Ian and Sophia were ecstatic. Right after a photo shoot for season one, Paul, Ian, and Sophia arrived at Madison Square Garden in New York for the CW 2009 Upfront Party. Numerous pictures were taken by the press and multiple media outlets were interviewing all the CW stars.

"There is some worry among viewership that this show is similar to Twilight. What do you have to say about that?"

"It is similar to Twilight in some respects. I'm not going to lie," said Paul. "The good thing is it was written before Twilight. It's different in storyline obviously. And stylistically it looks very different. I hadn't watched Twilight before we shot it and I recently saw parts of it and it looks much different."

"Do you guys feel like without Twilight there wouldn't be a Vampire Diaries TV show?"

"Quite possibly, and arguably, yes. So I'm not going to complain. I haven't seen Twilight so I don't know how it compares, but yeah, it's good that they're around."

"So tell us how you all fit into the fold."

"Well, it involves two brothers," said Paul. "There's two main romantic relationships. A kid comes to town and he's completely in love with this girl who's a mortal. And his brother and sister-in-law come in and threaten to wreak havoc. They're already wreaking havoc, but it's a beautiful romance on both sides. For Stefan and Elena and Damon and Emma. My guy he refuses to feed on humans, which makes him weaker."

"Damon is utterly ruthless," said Ian. "He'll feed on a human. He has no guilt, which makes him stronger physically and mentally than Stefan."

"I feed on little animals because I have empathy. So I have a conscience and as the story progresses I might do something bad. I don't know. I think it's going to be interesting to play with that good and evil. Right and wrong. It was funny. When we were shooting the scenes with all the teenagers, I was saying to myself I'm like an old man. I'm hundreds of years old. So when I was working opposite all these kids who are really my age in real life-24, 25, 26- I had to look at them like they were kids. So it was really interesting, but I think that's the trick with Stefan. He's trying to relate, but they sense something's a little different about him. Like he's not just having a good time. He doesn't want to sit back and drink beers and play on the football team. He's not interested in that. He's only interested in one thing and that's Elena."

"And what about you, Sophia?"

"I play Emma. She's Damon's wife and Stefan's ex. She is very special. The Vampire Queen. Older than these two and you really get a good sense of Emma's power in probably the first fifty seconds of the show."

"Yeah, she's pretty badass. Maybe even more than Damon," Ian added.

"It's really a great show," said Sophia. "It's edgy. It's mysterious. It's sexy. And vampires are hot right now. We have like a built-in fan base."

"So what do you think the world's fascination really is with vampires?"

"There's something dark and sexy and appealing about a guy that lives at night and lurks in the dark. I think that's it," Sophia answered.

"Do you think it has something to do with we like what we can't have? Like liking the bad boy?"

"Exactly. And that's the relationship that Emma has with Damon." After wrapping up their interviews, Paul, Ian, and Sophia went inside the building. Halfway through the program, they were on stage presenting their show to tonight's guests through a promotional video.

"Sometimes love can make you feel like it's the greatest thing in the world," said Sophia in a voiceover as Stefan walked into Mystic Falls High School. "It can make you feel safe. It can make you forget everything. Like you could start all over again."

"Who's this?" Bonnie asked.

"All I see is back."

"It's a hot back. I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar. Please be hot."

"Uh, pardon me," said Stefan as he bumped into Elena. Quickly, Elena left. Later in History class, Elena and Stefan exchanged a look. Elena then received a text from Bonnie: HAWT-E STARING U. Elena smiled.

"His name is Stefan Salvatore. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue," said Caroline.

"You got all of that in one day?"

"Oh, please, I got all that between third and fourth period."

"Parents?" Bonnie asked.

"My parents passed away," Stefan said.

"I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Elena asked.

"None that I talk to. I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow," said Caroline.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls," Bonnie added.

"Are you going?" Stefan asked Elena.

"Of course she is," Bonnie answered.

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town," said Elena to Stefan at the bonfire.

"Am I?"

"Mm-hmm. Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah."

"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness."

"Last spring…my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but...they didn't."

"You won't be sad forever."

"But love can also make you feel out of control. Scared. Like it's eating away at you until there's nothing left," said Sophia again in a voiceover. Elena screamed and Jeremy came out of the woods carrying an injured Vicki.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"She's losing a lot of blood."

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach. And it wasn't me," said Stefan to Zach as the scene cut to the Salvatore Boarding House.

"Who was it?" The scene cut to Emma looking at Damon in the opera house and then to a crow flying in the Boarding House.

"Damon. The Queen."

"Hello, brother."

"Surprise."

"Crow's a bit much."

"Wait til you see what I can do with the fog."

"Why are you here?"

"We could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into one little word...Elena."

"I must say Stefan you have grown even more incredibly boring than you were in the 1800s. No wonder I left you for Damon when we met," said Emma. "She your new replacement for Katherine and I? Hmm?"

"She's just a human. Leave her out of these games, Emma."

"You know as well as I, Stefan, that I make the rules and if I decide to turn Elena into one of my chess pieces, there's nothing you can do to stop it. Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"

"Stay away from her."

"I take that as an invitation," Damon said.

"Love really bites," Sophia said in the final voice over. "But then again so do I." Suddenly, Emma was shown biting Brooke and the scene faded to black. The crowd cheered and Sophia knew in that moment. This show was going to be the highlight of her career and life.


	3. She Is The Sunlight

It had most certainly been an eventful week for Sophia and Ian. After late night shooting, Ian, Sophia, Paul, Kevin, and Julie had flown to Comic Con 2009 in Los Angeles.

"How did you get involved with the show?" a reporter asked Paul when the group arrived at the convention center.

"Well, I auditioned like any other and it was a very grueling process. It was a relatively coveted role and there were a lot of really interesting parts. And there aren't a lot of interesting parts going around. There's a lot of parts just not a lot of interesting ones. It took a lot to get this part and I got it and we shot it in Vancouver and it went well. And now we're a series."

"How do you think the fans of Twilight are going to take to this show? Do you think they'll feel like they're cheating on Edward if they watch this show?"

"I hope not. I definitely don't want to start a rivalry. It's a very similar premise I suppose, but I hope it's something they can embrace in between. To be honest, I'm not very familiar with Twilight."

"Which might be better for you."

"Well, I specifically went out of my way to not watch Twilight prior to shooting this because I knew there was a similarity and subconsciously, I didn't want to have that in my head. After we shot the pilot, I was really curious so I watched parts of it and I thought it was pretty good. I was surprised. But I hope everyone embraces it."

"How does your character fit in with Damon and Emma?"

"Damon and Emma kind of come into the picture and remind me of my past. They won't just let me pretend I'm this kid whose trying to get over my past loves. They're reminding me that I'm this vicious monster." Down the carpet, a reporter was interviewing Ian.

"Tell us about this vampire role you're about to take on."

"I'm what you could seemingly deem as the bad boy. Basically, my brother and I are in this very interesting love triangle with my beautiful girlfriend right there," said Ian, pointing to Sophia down on the carpet. "Stefan pretty much tries to deny he loves Emma by going out with Elena. These two brothers are fighting over Emma and I've vowed to essentially make his life miserable. Many years ago. Over a century ago. Damon has a lot of fun. The problem is he has a lot of fun as he hurts people. But there's a certain amount of humanity in it. He has a reason. There's something that got him there. Damon, I feel, was wronged in a very bad way by his brother."

"Now your character has more power than his. Can you explain that?"

"In the vampire world, if you eat people, you have unbelievable amounts of power. If you eat squirrels and bunnies and rats because you don't want to kill people, it makes you pretty weak."

"People are saying this was a role you were born to play."

"I think so too. Sophie and I were just talking about that actually. I think this is going to be fun to play. We're shooting an episode now that's a lot of fun. And I just read a new episode. I worked until six o'clock this morning. An hour outside of Atlanta. Drove to the airport at six in the morning and flew here."

"Wow. So you're a little tired."

"Yes."

"That's the life of a vampire. No sleep."

"Hopefully, I'm not stuttering. This next episode is awesome. It's compelling. It's fast. I am vicious, but yet you start to see some…"

"Redeeming qualities, maybe?"

"I think there's some twists and turns that add to the dynamic. And it's great. We're having such fun with it."

"Is it fun to play such a bad guy?"

"It is. You know why? Bad guys have fun. And I think what really is the allure to these types of roles is you don't have to take yourself so seriously. That is fun."

"A lot of people are saying this has a very Twilight-esque theme to it, but it's very different. Explain how it's different."

"I would say in the realm that there's a certain edge to this show and by virtue of that edge it adds a whole other layer of intensity. It's shot much differently. Yes, there are similarities and we are very happy that Twilight exists. These books are a bit older than Twilight. And I think Twilight happens once a year. This happens once a week and I think that may prove to be helpful."

"Thank you, Ian."

"My pleasure." The reporter than left to speak with Sophia.

"Tell us about how you acquired this role."

"I auditioned for it. I auditioned for The Vampire Diaries. And I was late in the casting, Ian and I both were, but it worked out."

"So are you excited to be in the South again?"

"Yeah, it's been great. Um, I grew up in South Carolina. I live in L.A. And I got the part for the show and now Ian and I live in Atlanta. It's been good because we're closer to family now."

"What is it about this show that you think appeals to people?"

"I think for women at least there's something about a guy who's mysterious and dark that you don't know everything about that's very appealing. Girls always like the bad boy. Not always, but it's very attractive. Vampires clearly right now seem to be something to talk about. And I am a fan of the vampire shows, especially True Blood. I'm obsessed with it. I just recently met some of the cast. And that was awesome. I basically died and went to heaven."

"Did they give you advice?"

"Yeah, actually. They were really, really awesome. Michael McMillian plays Steve Newland. We talked for a long time, and we have the same agent, so that was the start of our conversation. And he was telling me, 'You should read the rest of the books. I know that Kevin told you not to read the rest, but it's something that's out of respect to the fans of the book. At least read them, get a feel for it, and then you have a respect for that, and then you can go from there.' That's what he did. He read all the True Blood books. And then you can really get a feel for it and decide how much you want to deviate, how much you want to stay the course. I know obviously because we all have vampire themes in our shows, we're going to be constantly running into each other. And now we know each other. It's kind of fun."

"You can help each other out…"

"And I am so inspired by their work. First of all, HBO is such an awesome network, and a lot of the directors Marcos Siega has hired to work for us. Like John Dahl, who's doing the next one. They're all HBO directors. So we're trying to make it a little more cinematic than you usually see on the CW. A little edgier. A little darker. We're trying to push the envelope as much as we possibly can for network television."

"Besides True Blood, were you into the whole genre?"

"I read the Twilight books before the movie and the whole craze happened. And then I loved it. I was in love with Edward before every other girl that says she's in love with him was. Because I read them a long time ago shooting The Devil Wears Prada, and one of Stephenie Meyer's friends said, 'Make sure you read my friend's book.' And I read it, and I was like, 'This is actually really great.' And then it turned into what it is now."

"Anything that touches vampires becomes huge. Are you ready for that?"

"I really hope that people respond to the show and they like it, and as much as that's very flattering when people keep coming up to me and telling me that and it's really great to hear, we have some serious shoes to fill. The thing is, with us coming out with this TV show, we're kind of like the third installment, where a lot of people think this is the rip-off. But at the same time, we're very different. Every show is very different. And we're trying to keep it that way. We're not trying to step on anyone's toes."

"How's the mood on set?"

"Oh god, we all hate each other. Kidding. We're, like, awesome. Honestly, I can't even put it into words. We just all gel so well. We hang out more than you think we should because we want to. We want to be a part of each other's lives."

"What can you tell us about the next episode?"

"Um, there's a comet involved in the second episode. It centers around a comet and there's a lot more Damon and Emma in this episode."

"I was telling Ian I think he was born for this role."

"He's perfect for it. And the more you watch as the episodes progress, Ian Somerhalder is just ideal as Damon. And he's funny, but mysterious and scary. I was watching the episode knowing what was going to happen and he still gave me chills. He's that good of an actor."

"Were you a fan of the books from the 90s?"

"Actually, I hadn't read them. I read the books before I auditioned and then I realized my character didn't exist and Kevin has actually asked all the cast not to read them anymore because he wants us to have our own take on the characters. I just read the next episode and it gets really intense. It's not one of those shows that drags things on and leaves you hanging. They get to the meat fast and people are really going to like it. It gets dark and bloody and gory. Just like you'd expect a vampire show to get."

After concluding her interview, everyone walked into the convention center and did a poster signing before their upcoming panel. The poster was absolutely gorgeous. It was taken at the Greystone Mansion and featured Damon, Emma, and Stefan. The tag line was love bites…but so do they. After the signing, the actors and producers took their seats in the ballroom for the panel discussion.

"So we've seen this mysterious tattoo that Emma has on her chest. When does the audience find out what's so dangerous about that?" the moderator asked after the pilot was aired in full for the guests.

"Um, we're going to find that out later, if it comes at all, which it will," Sophia answered.

"That's code for we don't tell her anything," Julie Plec added.

"Kevin, is that like a season finale thing when we find that out?" the moderator asked.

"No. Everyone finds out soon because that's when this all kind of kicks off. Um, Damon has an agenda and it's big. It's huge. It goes beyond Elena. So finding out about this tattoo will happen fairly soon. We're not going to drag that out."

"Cool. Good to know," Sophia joked. The audience laughed.

"So Ian, what's your experience been like at Comic-Con? Do you fear people asking you 'so, when's Boone coming back?'" The crowed cheered.

"First and foremost the word wouldn't be fear. There will be an opportunity if Julie and Kevin let me that Boone will be coming back. But my priority is this show. We have a great deal of work to do on this show. And it's going to be a hectic schedule. It's going to be wonderful and fulfilling and we're going to learn a lot about these characters and watch them grow."

"Will there ever be a moment between the brothers where Stefan kicks Damon's ass?"

"There's a really interesting imbalance in power by virtue of the fact that Emma and I eat people and Stefan doesn't. The problem with that is that it makes it difficult for them to hang out." Everyone laughed. "I mean. Anyone, anytime, anywhere. It doesn't matter. And that causes problems for him. And Stefan doesn't have the strength that Damon has. And Damon doesn't have the strength that Emma has. So until Stefan decides to start feeding on people, I will have the ability to kick his ass. When that changes, that's going to be a problem for me because look at how strong Paul is."

"Which poses the question in order to protect Elena will I start feeding on others?" Paul suggested. "But until then we can't hang out, Damon. Feeding on people. Embarrassing."

"What was it like getting these roles?" the moderator asked.

"Getting these roles for each and every one of us was extraordinarily…horrible," Ian answered. "Julie and Kevin diligently cast us. They fought tooth and nail for us. They didn't even want me. No one wanted me except Julie and Kevin."

"That's not true," said Kevin.

"The process of getting a television show is meetings after meetings after meetings. I got to the network and bombed it and almost didn't go back and these two got me back in the room, but the process was really intense. You get into these kind of situations in these networks in a really high-stakes environment. If you for some reason, get nervous, drink too much coffee, have too much B12, guess what? Your energy levels spiral and you mess up. And it's really heartbreaking when you want this role that you know you can play and you kind of blow it. So that was an amazing ride and I went through it with these guys and to have this kind of role is so fun and dynamic and it's a blast."

"The Vampire Diaries, ladies and gentlemen," the moderator concluded.


	4. Tonight

**Ever wonder about the actors and actresses who play your favorite characters in Blood Queen? Well, wait no more. This selection of stories will feature the cast of my spin-off of the Vampire Diaries. Disclaimer: I do not own the TVD books or show, only OC characters and Sophia King.**

* * *

"This is Giuliana Rancic back to you with an exclusive live scoop on the new hit series, The Vampire Diaries, on the CW," said the slim hostess for E! News. "Now we know all you guys are hungry for some more blood. So please give a warm welcome to the faces behind Emma Petrova and Damon Salvatore, Hollywood power couple, Sophia King and Ian Somerhalder." At the announcement of their names, Sophia and Ian walked out onto the stage and took a seat on the couch in front of Giuliana. "Thank you so much for coming down to the studio."

"No problem. We were happy to do it. We've been filming so much that Soph and I were glad to get out of Atlanta for a few days," said Ian, holding Sophia's hand.

"First off, congrats on the great numbers for the season premiere."

"Thanks, hopefully we can keep it going," Sophia replied.

"What was your reaction after it did so well?"

"We were asleep actually when it was premiering. Just exhausted from night shooting and I got this email with subjects like 'highest ratings in CW history.' We flipped out. It was just amazing," Ian answered.

"You mentioned night shoots. How are you handling them?"

"It's hard because your internal clock gets thrown for a loop. But we're not complaining - going to work is not like going to work. We get to do stunts, wear cool makeup, get bloody and be around people we love. It's so fun," Sophia answered.

"One of the questions I've been dying to ask is how did you two end up in The Vampire Diaries? I've heard all this buzz that the casting was grueling."

"Yes!" said both Ian and Sophia.

"It was very difficult, especially for Ian. My agent is good friends with Julie Plec, who is one of the creators of the show. He told me about the role and with the current vampire craze I thought it would be something really cool and fun to do. This show is really different from anything I've ever done. It's witty. It's dark. There's blood. There's gore, but there's light moments too. And after a lot of hard work I got the part. Now when they were casting Damon, they had a very hard time because they wanted to make sure I had chemistry with whomever they picked. And there are some sex scenes in the show so they wanted to make sure both of us would be comfortable."

"I desperately wanted it," Ian interjected. The audience laughed.

"And Julie and Kevin wanted you too," said Sophia. "But he totally tanked the network audition."

"We were in the desert in Vegas when I realized I'd missed this meeting for the audition times. My agent called me back and said 'They need you there at eleven in the morning, having memorized nine pages of the script.' It's 9 o'clock at night in Vegas. We got up real early and I drove across the desert while she slept. I taped my pages together. That's how I worked on the material."

"And he aced the audition. It was great."

"So you memorized the script while you were driving?" Giuliana asked.

"I probably shouldn't be saying that. It wasn't dangerous. I'm a good driver. Booking this show was a crazy ordeal. They tested a lot of people for it. This was kind of the pilot to get and it was highly competitive. Coming out of that and looking back, it was ten days of not knowing. Ten days of mental torture."

"Do you guys still get nervous about stuff like that?"

"Totally," said Ian as Sophia nodded.

"But you guys are seasoned actors."

"It doesn't really matter how many projects you work on because this business is really competitive. You still get these jitters of am I going to get the part, am I not going to get the part. You're constantly second guessing yourself until you get that phone call, but I think it was worse for Ian because he had already auditioned for a vampire show a few years ago," Sophia said.

"You're a big vampire fan?" Giuliana asked Ian.

"I am," Ian admitted. "I'm from New Orleans. There's a lot of vampire mystique and mythology that resonates there and I was fascinated by it. I always wanted to play one. I auditioned for True Blood. I just couldn't convince Alan Ball that was my role. And then I didn't get it and I was very bummed. I couldn't watch True Blood until now."

"Why's that?"

"We both try to stay away from Twilight and True Blood because we just don't want to have those conceptions of what a vampire is and how they act in our head. We want to make the characters are own and we don't want to make comparisons," said Sophia.

"How long do you think it took people to see that Vampire Diaries is totally different from Twilight?"

"The storylines in the pilot are similar - high school girl falls in love with a vampire - but then we deviate in the next episode," Sophia answered. "We have so many different aspects, if I had to compare it to something else, it would probably be Dawson's Creek meets Buffy meets True Blood."

"So you're shooting Vampire Diaries down in Atlanta. How are you liking it?"

"We love it there. We really do. We're both from the south, so Atlanta just has this familiar air to it. It's the same air that I remember growing up with. There's a lot of hospitality, the people are great. And it's a beautiful place to live. Also, we're close to home and to our families in Louisiana and South Carolina. It's good," Ian answered.

"Obviously Damon is the bad boy vampire, but do you see him as having any redeeming qualities? Any humanity?"

"Yeah, the redeeming qualities that Damon possesses, we may not see for a while. When you peel back the layers a little bit, you start to understand why Damon is doing what he's doing. Again, you don't have to agree with him or his methods, but you start to see bits and pieces. The question is, is there any humanity left in him? As much as he would like to say absolutely 100% not, maybe there is."

"Will Emma be the character to bring it out?"

"You know, when Damon's in the presence of Emma, that is when you definitely see a change in him. And Emma herself is a very complex character," Sophia answered.

"So you guys are definitely having fun with this."

"Oh yeah," Sophia answered.

"I think this is probably the most fun we've had on a job. As vampires we have this immense amount of power to play with, not being mortal. You don't have the restraints of being a normal guy. You can do whatever you want."

"So for those who haven't had the chance to watch the show, what would you tell them?"

"Watch it!" they both said.

"I think one of the great things about the show is it's got a lot of different aspects of what everybody likes. It's got some major appeal," said Sophia, moving her long brown curly locks to one side of her neck. "The characters aren't just one dimension either. My character, Emma, is really fascinating. She can be this very sexy, powerful vampire queen, but she also has this playful, sweet sometimes tortured side. And as an actress I just seek those kind of multidimensional roles because it makes the show or the film that much more real for the audience."

"Sophia, you mentioned about the sex scenes in the show. A lot of viewers don't realize how hard that is to film."

"I knew you were going to ask me this question," Sophia blushed. "Ian and I have both filmed sex scenes for different projects and you know, it is hard. I can't speak for Ian, but for myself, I have to shut part of my brain off. Not only do you have this really attractive man you're supposed to be intimate with, but you also have most of the production team in the room telling you what to do. It's really uncomfortable. And learning to ignore all those people and the feelings inside you is definitely a skill that takes some time to develop."

"So how do you do it?"

"I think one of the most important parts is making it fun. It helps ease the awkwardness," Ian answered. "We filmed the last scene for tonight's episode and by the time it was over we were laughing hysterically. I think Julie and Kevin thought we were crazy."

"Does it help that you two are dating?"

"You know, Sophia and I are really lucky. We both love acting and for years, we've wanted to work on a project together. Landing these two roles was pretty much a dream come true for us. I mean the highlight of my day is being able to get up and go to work with my girlfriend. That being said, it's still awkward when you're in a room with a bunch of people filming you having sex, but that's just a part of the job."

"So is biting going to continue to be a part of the vampire sex mythology?"

"Absolutely," said Ian. Everyone laughed.

"Hey, I think if anyone needs to worry about being bitten, it's Damon. I mean he is one sexy beast," said Sophia, seductively.

"When will we see Damon shirtless on the show?"

"Immediately. I think Damon will probably have his clothes off often," Ian laughed. "He's a troublemaker, what's a good troublemaker without some…"

"Sex scenes?"

"There are a lot of things for Damon to do with his clothes off."

"Is there any chance of a love scene without death being the end result?"

"Oh my goodness. I hope so," Sophia answered. "The thing is, there's a really funny thing that these vampires have, Damon and Emma in particular — the whole mind compulsion thing. I can essentially do whatever I want to you, and then make you completely forget about it. Which… it comes in handy, you know what I mean?"

"I'm glad I don't have that power. That would be dangerous," Ian laughed.

"Is Damon purely evil?"

"He does things that would definitely be deemed as evil, and at best, mean, at times," Ian answered. "But he does them because he believes in what he's doing. It would not be on the heels of someone like Kevin Williamson to write a one-dimensional character. Damon's clearly not that. Damon is the most fun character I've ever played. He's such a blast. I guarantee you he's not gonna be a one-trick pony."

"Is there anything special you do to climb into Damon's mind?"

"Ooh, I don't think I want to go there."

"That might offend a lot of people," Sophia laughed.

"Damon goes into some weird places. Once the teeth and the eyes go in, I become like a completely different dude, which is a lot of fun. He's not necessarily a prankster, but he just loves to have fun — that's the gag, that's what makes this whole thing so fun. I was always so envious of Josh Holloway on Lost because he always gets to say the cool stuff. And it's always so fun to watch, even if it's someone you don't necessarily like, you still want to hear what they have to say and the way they say it. They truly mean what they're saying, even if it's demented and wrong."

"As a huge Lost fan, I have to ask about your upcoming return to the show. I hear you're going to Hawaii this week? What can you reveal about your return?"

"Unfortunately, the only thing they've told me that I am allowed to say is that I'm going back to do about three episodes. To be honest with you, I just got the script. It's in a package at my house, it's sealed with all these crazy seals on it. It weighs a ton, it's probably about 100-something pages long. "

"Are you excited to go back to the show?"

"It will be cool. I'm only going to be in Hawaii for 18 hours or something. I am going to fly 10 hours each way and I'll be in Hawaii, literally, probably for less than a day. I'm excited. I am really curious to see what that script says."

"We've talked about what you like about playing Damon. Is there something that scares you about the role?"

"Yeah. That I just don't screw it up."

"How did you know it was right for you?"

"This guy is gonna get himself into some trouble, and the attraction was simply the fact that I haven't really gotten a chance to play those characters and really have fun. I've sorta learned that I'm so tired of taking myself so seriously. It's so great to show up at work and truly enjoy every word you say."

"Now how are your scripts distributed? Are they under lock and key?"

"The distribution on these scripts is really tight," Sophia answered. "I keep my script very close to me at all times. I would never want to have to deal with the wrath of Kevin or the studio or anyone. Our scripts are all watermarked, our names are on them, so if they get out through photocopies, it's clear whose it was. So there's responsibility, and there should be responsibility for that. Scripts leaking kills it, it's not fun."

"Well, thank you guys so much for coming by. It's been so long since we last had you on."

"Well, it was our pleasure," Sophia returned.

"That's it for E! News, folks, but make sure to tune in next week for all your favorite celebrity gossip and news."

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**Please review!**


	5. Torch Song

"Okay, guys. One last scene and this episode is a wrap," said Marcos to Nina, Paul, Sophia, and Ian.

The last scene The Vampire Diaries production team was filming was the scene when Damon and Emma walked in on Elena and Stefan at the Heritage Display.

"And take," said Marcos as the cameras ran.

"Look at all these familiar names," said Nina. "Sheriff William Forbes, Honor-" Nina laughed, knowing she'd messed up the name. "What is it?"

"Honoria," said Paul.

"No. It's Honoria. Just think of gonorrhea," said Marcos.

"Gonorrhea," Ian chuckled.

"Got it gonorrhea," Nina laughed.

"Reset," said Marcos.

"Look at all these familiar names—Sheriff William Forbes, Honoria Fell, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And, Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers. Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually," said Ian, entering the room with Sophia.

"We don't need to bore them with stories of the past," Paul interrupted.

"It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well, I'm bored. I want to dance. And Damon won't dance with me. Could I just borrow your date?" Sophia asked.

"Oh, uh..." said Nina.

"I don't really dance."

"Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all," said Ian.

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?"

"It's up to Stefan."

"Well sorry, but I'm not going to take no for an answer," said Sophia, dragging Paul out of the room.

"And cut," said Marcos. "Great job, guys. Take the rest of the day off. We'll see you next week."

"Hey, has anybody seen my phone?" Sophia asked the crew. They all heard a sucking sound and saw Ian with Sophia's cell.

"No, I'm not playing the harmonica. I'm sucking the coffee out of Sophie's phone." Nina tried to hold back her laughter.

"Yeah, that's exactly what it sounded like," said Sophia, grabbing her phone.

After changing clothes, the whole cast decided to have lunch at a coffee place they had discovered near Sophia and Ian's house. They sat down at a table after ordering. Soon a waitress came by and had a muffin on a plate.

"Sorry, but we only had one banana nut muffin left," said the waitress, placing the plate on the table. Quickly, Ian grabbed the muffin before Sophia could.

"I ordered mine first," said Sophia.

"Yeah, but I'm so much faster," Ian retorted.

"Give it to me."

"No."

"Give it to me."

"Ok, you can have it." He licked it and offered it to her. Candice and Paul laughed. Out of spite, Sophia grabbed Ian's coffee cup on the table and licked the rim.

"There you go. Enjoy your coffee," Sophia smirked.

"That was there when I got here," Ian laughed before taking a bite out of the muffin. Sophia grimaced. As they all ate, Sophia received a call from her father.

"Hey, Dad. What's up? Uh-huh. Yeah. Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can. No, don't tell her. Love you too. Bye."

"What's wrong?" Ian asked, noticing Sophia's change in mood.

"My grandmother. She's dying. I have to go to Aiken for a few days."

"I'll come with you."

"No, stay here," Sophia replied, patting Ian's leg. "I need you to talk to Marcos. See if I can get an extra few days off."

"Alright, but we're going to have to do this sometime."

"I know. Just not right now. Please."

"Alright. Be safe," said Ian before kissing his girlfriend.

"I promise." Sophia then left.

"What was that about?" Paul asked.

"Oh, for some reason I've yet to understand, Sophie doesn't want me to meet her mother."

"Why?" Nina asked.

"No clue. But she's going to have to get used to the idea. I'm going to surprise her."

"Ooh, can we come?" Candice asked.

"I don't see why not. I'm sure Sophie would appreciate all the support she can get."

A couple hours later, Sophia and her brother, Derek, who lived in Atlanta were driving into the Aiken Regional Hospital parking lot.

"You excited to see the family?" Derek asked.

"Why would I be excited, Der? Our grandmother's dying and I'm going to have to face my mother."

"Sophie, you shouldn't speak so poorly of mom."

"She hasn't taken any interest in my career or life for that matter for the past twelve years. Excuse me if I'm not looking forward to our next encounter," said Sophia, exiting the car and slamming the door shut.

"She's changed, sis. Mellowed out."

"I'll bet. You never had a problem with her, Derek. She loves you. You're the golden boy. She never approved of anything I did. Especially modeling and acting."

"You'll see," said Derek, shaking his head. "Are you sure it's a good idea not bringing Ian?"

"And what? Give her a new chew toy? I don't think so." There was a reason every time Sophia brought a boy home to meet her mother she ended up breaking up with them a week later. Her mother was the perpetual cougar and Ian was prime bait. There was no way she was going to let the love of her life near dear old mom with a ten foot pole.

A few minutes later, Derek walked up to his parents in a waiting room while Sophia stayed behind.

"Sophie? Is that you?" asked Shelly, Sophie's mother, as Derek talked to his father, Jack.

"Hi, mom," Sophia said shyly.

"It's good to see you," said Shelly, pulling her surprised daughter into a hug.

"Likewise. So, uh, how's she doing?"

"The doctor says it's a matter of hours. Sophie, what's with your hair?"

"What?"

"What's different?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, maybe that's it." Sophie stomped over to Derek in the hallway, talking to him aside.

"She is unbelievable. Her mother is in…"

"Okay. Relax, relax," said Derek. "We are gonna be here for a while, it looks like, and we still have your career and your boyfriend she's never met to cover."

"Oh God!" Sophia groaned as they hugged.

"Oh, Sophia, I saw you on E! News. Why didn't you tell me you were dating Ian Somerhalder!" Shelly said, coming up to her children.

"Maybe because you haven't said a word to me in the last five years."

"Yes, well whose fault's that? You could've called." Sophia rolled her eyes. Typical mom. "So when am I going to meet him? Is he here?"

"No. He's in Atlanta. I don't know when I'll be able to get us all together. I'm really busy with work."

"I saw the show. I'm quite impressed…and proud."

"Proud? That's a first."

"Well, I never thought you'd quite make it so…"

"Shelly, that's enough," said Jack. "Let me see my favorite girl."

"Hi, Daddy," said Sophia as they hugged.

"I missed you."

"Me too."

A few hours later, a nurse came out of Sophia's grandmother's room. Sophia and Derek walked into the room to say their goodbyes.

"She looks so small," said Derek.

"I know."

"Well, at least she's with grandpa and Aunt Phyllis now."

"Aunt Phyllis is dead?"

"Yeah for like six years."

"Where was I?"

"Where were you? Can we focus? Please?" Sophia nodded and looked at her grandmother lovingly.

"Goodbye, grandma." Sophia kissed her on the forehead.

"Bye, grandma," said Derek. He went to kiss her, but the believed to be deceased woman moved. Sophie screamed and Derek shouted in disbelief. They both ran out of the room.

"What is going on?" Shelly asked in the waiting room.

"Y'know how-how the nurse said that-that grandma had passed? Well, she's not, quite…" Derek explained.

"What?"

"She's not- past, she's present, she's back."

"What's going on?" asked Aunt Lily, entering the room.

"She may have died," said Jack.

"She may have died?"

"We're looking into it." Sophia reentered the waiting room with a nurse and they both went into the hospital room.

"I, uh, I'll go see," said Derek, walking back into his grandmother's room.

"This almost never happens," said the nurse. The heart monitor flat-lined and the nurse pulled a blanket over her. Sophia and Derek left the room.

"Now she's passed," said Derek.

That night, Sophia sat on the bed of her hotel room eating a small container of ice cream and watching bad TV. She was dressed in sweats and a white tank top and her eyes were puffy from crying so much. Sophie had refused to stay at her mother's house. There was only one guest room anyway and Derek was occupying it until the funeral was over. As Sophia took another tissue from the box, she heard a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be, she jumped from the bed and answered the door. She was shocked to see it was Ian.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sad but yet happy at the same time.

"Like I was really going to let you go through this all alone. Besides, everyone wanted to go on a road trip," said Ian, entering the room and throwing his bag on the floor.

"Everyone's here?"

"Yeah. They thought you could use the support and by the looks of the bad TV and ice cream, looks like you need it. So did she…"

"Twice."

"Twice?"

"Yeah," said Sophia, sitting on the bed. "It's weird though. I mean, I know she's gone, but I just don't feel…"

"Maybe that's cause she's not really gone," said Ian, sitting on the bed next to Sophia and wrapping his arm around her waist.

"No, she's gone. We checked. A lot. I'm going to miss her. When I went off to do modeling and acting, she and my dad were the only ones who supported me."

"Your mom didn't?"

"No. Nothing I ever did for her was good enough. The funeral's tomorrow, but we're going to have breakfast at the house first. You can meet us at the cemetery."

"No, I'm going with you to your parents' house."

"Ian," Sophia groaned.

"You can't keep putting this off any longer. I'm going to have to meet her eventually."

"But I don't want you to," Sophia moaned.

"Why?" Ian pressed. "Every time we talk about this you try and change the subject and I let it go, but not this time. I want to be there for you, but I can't, if you won't let me."

"My mother's not a good person."

"I'm going to need a little bit more than that, sweetie," said Ian, stroking his girlfriend's hair.

"She's made it her life mission to ruin every relationship I have, okay!"

"In what way?"

"My mom's for lack of a better word…a cougar." Ian's eyes widened.

"Oh," he grimaced.

"Yeah. Every boyfriend I had she'd steal away."

"Does your dad know?"

"No. He's blissfully ignorant and I'd like to keep it that way. She's already hurt enough people."

"Well, we'll get through it. I'm sure she'll be too preoccupied with the funeral."

"Ian, have you not heard a word I just said!"

"Yes," he whispered softly into her ear.

"Then you know that I can't risk you—"

"Hey, nothing's going to happen. I can handle your mom." Smiling, his lips brushed against Sophia's softly and she melted into his embrace. Everything just stopped as their hands ran through each other's hair. Sophia moaned, giving Ian full access to her mouth.

"I can't lose you," Sophia murmured, stroking Ian's face.

"You won't. I promise. And you know I always keep my promises. Besides, if she starts with the flirting, I'll just hang with your dad. We had a great time when he came to visit us in L.A. last year."

"I love you," Sophia whispered.

"I love you too." After a pause, Ian then yelled to the guys outside. "Okay, everybody! You can come in now!" Sophia laughed as Nina, Paul, Steven, Sara, Kat, Candice, Zach, Kayla, and Michael ran into the room all dog-piling onto Sophia.

"We love you too, Sophie!" they all yelled. Sophia cried and laughed at the same time. She had the best friends and job in the world.

The next morning, Ian and Sophia left early to head to her parents' house while the rest of their friends went to check out Sophie's hometown. When Ian and Sophia drove down Banks Mill Road, old insecurities began to surface inside Sophia.

"Nervous?" Ian asked, taking her hand.

"A little. This town doesn't hold a lot of good memories for me. You know as soon as I graduated high school, I left."

"I'm sure there's at least one good memory." Sophia smiled. He was right. Ian was always right. When they exited the car, having arrived at Sophia's old house in Cedar Meadows, she felt like she was suffocating.

"Oh God, I can't do this."

"Yes, you can. There's no time better than the present, Soph. Now march." Sophia frowned and Ian put on his best puppy-dog face. "Please!" Sophia immediately caved and planted a chaste kiss on Ian's lips.

"Fine. But I'm only doing this for you." Ian knocked on the door and Shelly answered it.

"Sophie, you're late."

"By a minute."

"Whatever. Hmm. This must be the ambiguous boyfriend. I thought he wasn't coming."

"I decided to surprise your daughter. I'm Ian Somerhalder. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. King."

"Oh no the pleasure's all mine," Shelly blatantly flirted. "And please call me Shelly. God, you're even more handsome in person." Ian nervously laughed and looked at Sophie.

"Detract your claws, mother," Sophie spat.

"Oh. Was I doing it again? Sorry. Old habits die hard," Shelly returned, attempting to be sincere, but Sophie knew she was anything but.

"So you know that Sophia knows about your…tendencies?" Ian asked.

"She gave me a good chewing out when she graduated high school. I may or may not have had a fling with her senior prom date."

"Okay," Sophia interjected, desperate to change the subject. "Where's Dad?"

"Where else? Working on that damn tractor. He's in the barn. If you want, I could keep your boyfriend…occupied."

"You know what? It's been a while since I've seen Jack. Mind if I join you, Sophia?" Ian asked, not wanting to be left alone with the King matriarch.

"Not at all. Let's go. It's not that far of a walk."

"Oh. Alright then. Tell your father breakfast is ready," said Shelly as the couple walked away. Ian slung his arm around Sophia's shoulders while she wrapped her arm around his torso.

"That woman is crazy," Ian blurted when they were far enough away. Sophia laughed. "I mean your senior prom date? That's all kinds of twisted."

"Don't remind me please."

When they reached the barn, Jack was cleaning a set of tools.

"Ian, good to see you."

"You too, Jack," said Ian, shaking Jack's hand.

"Mom says breakfast is ready, Dad."

"Okay. I hope my wife didn't grope you too much, Ian." Sophia and Ian looked at each other.

"Wait, you know?" Sophia asked her father.

"Of course I know, sweetie. I'm not that ignorant. But she's working on it."

"She didn't seem that sincere, Dad."

"She's seeing a therapist. An old school buddy of yours actually, Rick, Rich."

"Ray?"

"Yeah, him."

"Well, good for her. Lord knows she needs all the help she can get."

"Let's go back to the house. I'm sure Shelly is cooking up something great for us. My wife may have her quirks, Ian, but her cooking is the best in the state."

Breakfast was quite awkward. Ian, Sophia, and Derek sat next to each other on one side while Shelly and Jack sat on the other.

"So Ian, how did you two meet?" Shelly asked, breaking the silence.

"New York. We actually lived right next door to each other. She in one modeling house, I in the other. We did a lot of photo shoots together and somehow we always got the short end of the straw when we were picked for the coffee runs."

"I still say you cheated. You could have cut the straw so you got the short end on purpose."

"I could say the same about you, my dear." They both laughed.

"Sophia, would you like a cinnamon roll? I made them just like your grandpa did," Shelly interrupted.

"What are you doing?" Sophia asked bluntly.

"I'm doing what mothers are supposed to do."

"Hmm. Another first," Sophia muttered.

"Sophia," Derek warned.

"It's okay, Derek. I deserved that," Shelly admitted.

"You deserve a lot more than that. Let's just cut the crap. Ian wanted to meet you. I've already met his parents. It was only fair for him to meet the rest of my family. But let me make myself clear about one thing. I'm not the same girl you used to push around twelve years ago. I've changed. And I'll be damned if I let a repeat of prom night happen again."

"I know what I did was wrong. And I'm working on it."

"What does that even mean?"

"My therapist says I did the things I did because I was jealous of you. You have the life I never had."

"And that just makes everything okay?"

"No. It doesn't, but I just want a second chance."

"You've had second chances, Mom. You've had thirds, fourths, fifths, even sixths. And time and time again, you only disappoint me."

"It'll be different this time."

"You're asking me to trust you."

"I am."

After a long pause, Sophia conceded, "Alright. But this is your _last _chance. And I swear to God if you—"

"I know."

After a tense silence, the King family and Ian left for the funeral. All of Sophia's friends from the show were there. Ian met with Paul while Sophia greeted some of her extended family.

"So was she as crazy as Sophie said she was?" Paul asked.

"Oh yeah. She's definitely got some issues, but she's supposedly working on it. So maybe their relationship is on the mend."

An hour later, Sophia was walking next to her mother through the cemetery after the funeral.

"It was a really beautiful service," said Sophia.

"It really was. Oh, c'mere, sweetheart." They hugged. "Y'know, I think it might be time for you to start using night cream." Sophia glared at her mother irritated as Shelly walked away. Ian noticed the exchange and took his girlfriend's hand. Sophia smiled at the gesture. Meanwhile, Michael Trevino was listening to his overcoat for a second and sighed. Then he noticed Paul watching him.

"What?" Michael asked.

"Nothing, just your overcoat sounds remarkably like Brent Mussberger."

"Check it out, Colts-Bears," said Michael, revealing a pocket TV.

"You're watching a football game at a funeral?"

"No, it's the pre-game. I'm gonna watch it at the reception."

"You are a frightening, frightening man."

"God, what a great day," said Candice. Everyone one turned to look at her. "What? Weather-wise!"

"I know, uh, the air, the-the trees... even though grandma's gone there's, there's something almost, uh- I dunno, almost life-aff-" Not looking where he was going, Derek fell into an open grave.

"Derek!" Sophia yelled.

"I'm fine. Just-just…having my worst fear realized."

Later at the wake at the King's house, Derek was lying on the couch.

"Here, sweetie, here. I took these when I had my golfing accident." Shelly handed her son a bottle of pills. She then turned to Sophie and patted her hair over her ears. In the corner of the room, Michael was watching the TV. He made an extravagant gesture of disappointment.

"Whaddya got there?" Jack asked as Michael hid the TV, but still had an earphone in.

"Just a, uh…hearing disability."

"What's the score?"

"Seventeen-fourteen Colts. Three minutes to go in the third."

"Beautiful!" said Jack, turning to watch with him. Several minutes later, a large crowd of men were watching the game. Shelly came over to sit with Sophia.

"Your grandmother would have hated this," said Shelly.

"Well, sure, what with it being her funeral and all."

"No, I'd be hearing about 'Why didn't I get the honey-glazed ham?' I didn't spend enough on flowers, and if I spent more she'd be saying 'Why are you wasting your money? I don't need flowers, I'm dead.'"

"That sounds like Grandma."

"Do you know what it's like to grow up with someone who is critical of every single thing you say?"

"I can imagine."

"I'm telling you. It's a wonder your mother turned out to be the positive, life-affirming person that she is."

"That is a wonder," said Sophia sarcastically. "So tell me something, Mom. If you had to do it all over again, I mean, if she was here right now, would you tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"How she drove you crazy, picking on every little detail, like your hair... for example."

"I'm not sure I know what you're getting at."

"Do you think things would have been better if you'd just told her the truth?"

"No. I think some things are better left unsaid. I think it's nicer when people just get along."

"Huh."

"More wine, dear?"

"Oh, I think so." Shelly reached out to fiddle with Sophia's hair again, but realized what her daughter had been alluding to.

"Those earrings look really lovely on you."

"Thank you." Suddenly, the men shouted at the television in the living room. They had switched from Michael's portable TV to her Dad's big screen.

"Now I'm depressed!" Jack yelled. Everyone looked at him. "Even more than I was."

"Ooh. Look. Sophie's on the TV," said one of Sophia's cousins. The new promo for the second episode of Vampire Diaries was playing. All of the King clan walked into the room to watch the promo.

"Next Thursday," said the commentator. "Don't miss one of fall's best new sex-charged dramas."

"You didn't tell me you had a brother," said Elena to Stefan. The scene cut to Emma and Damon at the Mystic Grill.

"Can I play with her?" Damon asked.

"Well, we did come here to have fun," Emma replied. Vicki was then attacked by Damon.

"This town could use a bit of a wake-up call don't you think?" Damon asked on the roof of a building. "I want you to remember who you are!"

"We both know the closest you'll ever get to humanity is when you rip it open and feed on it," said Emma.

"What are you two up to?" Stefan asked.

"You have no idea of the game we're about to play," Emma replied. The ending scene then cut to Emma, Damon, and Stefan walking up a hill with a tag line reading "Love bites…but so do they."

"The Vampire Diaries. This Thursday at eight," said the commentator.

"Whoo. Go, Sophie!" said Sophie's cousin.

"Hey, where'd she go?" asked Jack. Ian looked around, but didn't see Sophie. He walked outside and saw her sitting on the steps of the front porch.

"There you are," said Ian, sitting next to Sophie.

"Sorry. I needed some air. The hypocrisy of the King family gets to me after awhile."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's funny. The last time I was here my whole family talked about me behind my back, said I wouldn't amount to anything. I was the black sheep of the family. God forbid a King doesn't go into the real estate business. But now, they can't seem to get enough of me. You know, I had some of them come to me and want autographs? They could at least act sad that grandma's gone."

"I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better."

"You make me feel better just by being here," said Sophia, resting her head against Ian's shoulder. "I'm sorry about this morning. I didn't mean to put you in the middle of my own family drama. She just has a way of getting under my skin that…"

"Shh," Ian interrupted, wrapping his arm. "It's okay. I kind of enjoyed it. You're sexy when you're mad." Sophia laughed. "Everything will work out like it should."

"I wish I had your optimism."

"Maybe one day it'll rub off on you."

"Maybe. You were right earlier. There is one good memory I still have of this place. I missed the view," Sophia said, looking out over the rolling hills.

"Yeah, it's something special." However, Ian wasn't looking at the scenery. Only the beautiful woman in his arms.


	6. Animals

It had been a week after shooting the ninth episode of The Vampire Diaries. Sophia and Ian were shocked by the growing support of all the fans. Currently, Sophia, Ian, and Paul were at the Scream Awards in L.A. They were going to be presenting one of the awards tonight. On the checkered carpet, they caught up with Access Hollywood.

"So these are the three hottest stars on TV right now," said the reporter.

"That's a big introduction," Paul said.

"I know. At Comic Con, I predicted this show would do well and it did. Four million on the CW, which is amazing."

"Roughly," Ian added.

"No, the premiere week was five million and the DVR was seven or eight," Sophia corrected.

"Does that feel good for you all?"

"It does. There's nothing better than that," Ian answered.

"It's just we put so much work into this show. We're proud of it and then the fact that people like it and they're watching and enjoying it. It's just that much more gratifying," Sophia said.

"I agree. It does go beyond doing the work. This is definitely an ensemble cast and everyone carries their own weight," Ian continued.

"Even behind the camera. All the writers, the directors, the producers. They're so hands on. I've never been on a set with people who are more passionate about making something that's really, really special," Paul chimed in.

"I agree. If it wasn't for Kevin and Julie, we wouldn't be here," Sophia said.

"And Marcos Siega," Ian added.

"And Marcos Siega," Sophia repeated. That man was a genius.

"Do you guys go and see what people are saying about the show? Do you go and read the blogs? Too dangerous?"

"Way too dangerous," Sophia answered.

"I can't," Ian said as Paul shook his head. "Paul especially can't."

"I'd be very depressed."

"With all the different criticism and all the fabricated stories that are in the media, I just can't do that because so much of it is just not true. Everybody has an opinion," Sophia elaborated.

"That's what happens when you get on a hit show though. Everybody wants to know about your personal life beyond knowing about the show," said the reporter.

"Well, it's because you're in their living room, on their television every week, but really those are just characters," Sophia explained. "I mean Ian and Paul are awesome people and they're great."

"Thanks, Sophie," said Ian and Paul.

"You're so sweet," Ian added. "Stop lying to these people, Sophie."

"You're not vampires in real life," said the reporter.

"Or are we?" Sophia said sultrily.

"Why do you think the vampire genre has still continued to just grow?"

"One of the interesting facts is that the genre never kind of went away. It was just in a sort of dormant stage and with the unbelievable box office success of the Twilight franchise, it most certainly paved the freeway for these vampire shows," Ian answered.

"The whole mythology of vampires was always so powerful. For me, I loved Anne Rice and Interview With A Vampire and so I think, exactly what Ian said. It's just been dormant," Paul added.

"Speaking of vampires. We have Twilight, True Blood, and Vampire Diaries all in one house tonight. That's amazing. Have you crossed paths with anybody?"

"It's awesome. I just met Anna Paquin for the first time. And we chatted and she's really sweet. So we're all in support of each other," said Sophia.

"Now, when I last talked to you, Ian. You said you were going back to the island for Lost. Have you gone and shot it?"

"I did go back. It was a lot of fun. It was very quick. It was really sweet. And I've very happy and grateful to have gone back and seen my friends and have been a part of it."

"Really quickly the episode next week."

"Uh. There's going to be a lot of vampires," Sophia stuttered.

"Listen to us. We're all stuttering. There's a lot happening that we can't talk about," Ian joked.

"We want to maintain the intrigue and mystery," Paul added. Concluding the interview, Paul, Ian, and Sophia walked back stage and prepared for their introduction.

"You love them when they suck so flash your fangs for the cast of the Vampire Diaries. Paul Wesley, Ian Somerhalder, and the lovely Sophia King," blared the announcer. To roaring cheers, the trio walked out onto the stage arm in arm.

"Remember when we only had the X-files? Now, we've got tons of great TV shows," said Ian through the microphone.

"This year we fell in love with a serial killer with a code," Paul said.

"We stayed lost on an island crawling with plot twists," Sophia continued.

"And we saw lots of vampire sex," Ian finished seductively.

"The nominees for this year's best TV show are Dexter, Lost, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and True Blood," Sophia said.

"And your choice for best TV show is…True Blood," Paul announced. After the creator of True Blood gave his speech, Ian, Sophie, and Paul walked back behind stage and ended the night with great food, drinks, and laughs. They were living the life they'd always wanted.


	7. Are You Gonna Be My Girl

The Vampire Diaries cast had just finished filming the fourteenth episode when they were called away to a press tour in England before the holidays. Sophia was looking forward to it. She loved London, she'd get to promote a show she loved working on, and she'd get to spend some time with Ian. The first stop on their tour was an Apple store in London.

"Look, they're here," said the moderator as Sophia, Ian, and Paul walked onto the stage and sat down.

"We're here," said Paul as the crowd cheered.

"How does it feel to be in London?" the moderator asked.

"It's awesome," Sophia answered.

"I want to take a picture of this," Paul said, referring to the crowd, as he pulled out his camera.

"Yeah, this is kind of cool. You get some, we get some," said Ian, pulling out his iPhone. "This is perfect. Macintosh will love this. Everybody flash at the same time."

"Well, everyone is delighted you're here in London to promote The Vampire Diaries which by the way has anyone here seen it?" The crowd cheered.

"How did you all see it? It hasn't even premiered yet," said Ian.

"Did you download it?" Sophia asked.

"Are you a criminal?" Ian added.

"Actually, the first episode is on iTunes," the moderator answered.

"That's right," Paul remembered.

"For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's the new kind of supernatural vampire horror TV show. Am I describing that correctly?" the moderator asked.

"I would say Dawson's Creek/Scream/True Blood," Sophia answered.

"Why don't we hear a little bit about the premise of the show? Sophia, you're the main girl."

"One of the main girls. The show is basically about a small town called Mystic Falls and the vampire influences within. And we're the three vampires within."

"My character's incredibly in love with Elena played by Nina Dobrev, but he still has some residual feelings for Emma," Paul added. "And then these two show up and cause some mischief."

"Ostensibly, Stefan is the good vampire and Emma and Damon are the bad vampires, correct?" the moderator asked.

"Well, that's a matter of perspective," Ian answered.

"Things could change," Paul added.

"Stefan's a little nicer," Ian said.

"Well, I don't kill."

"She brings out the best in all of us," said Ian, pointing to Sophia.

"I do."

"Emma, I mean," Ian joked. Sophia playfully hit him.

"Why do you think vampires have been so successful in popular media?"

"Thank you, Twilight," Ian quipped.

"But these books were written years before Twilight."

"The unbelievable success of those movies has paved the way for us to have this job," Ian explained.

"Now wasn't this show the highest rated show on the channel?"

"Yes," Paul answered.

"We're doing well. But the main thing is…we're so unbelievably proud of this show. For some reason all of the stars lined up together to make this show possible from the writing aspect to the photography aspect. And at the performance level every actor is bringing their A-game every day, every take and that transfers over to the film. So I hope you guys like it as much as we do. I hope you don't download it illegally anymore," Ian elaborated.

"So let's talk about each of you individually. Paul, you've done a few television shows."

"Yeah, I've been acting for nine to ten years and I've done all these pilots, basically shows that never really got anywhere. I've literally just been waiting for something like this to occur. And it's amazing. I've really just been waiting for a great role."

"Role you can sink your teeth into?" Ian suggested.

"A role I can sink my teeth into. Bite me. I fell in love with Stefan from the moment I read the pilot script. It was hard to get the part, but it was really worth it. And I just feel really blessed."

"This pilot was not easy. Every single one of us here can tell you that the process in which you book a television show is pretty extensive. This one in particular just because of its quality level and sort of how much hype was behind it with the vampire genre being so hot right now. We worked hard. It was like ten days of hell to get this show," Ian added.

"You start with the audition. You have to meet with the directors, meet with the producers, meet with the studio, and then the network. And after all that they pair all of us together to see if we have chemistry. It was a long haul," Sophia agreed.

"Now Sophia, you have been in a lot of films."

"Yes, I've been in five films, all multi-award winning, and this role is my first TV show."

"That's really exciting," the moderator said.

"Yeah. And I'm really lucky. You'll see about halfway through I play two characters. I play Emma who Damon is in love with and I play Katherine who turned the two boys one hundred and fifty years ago."

"And you have love scenes."

"Yeah, it's really, really hard."

"Poor girl. Bummer," Ian joked.

"Part of the job," Sophia laughed.

"Ian, we've seen you on TV as well in Lost. How does it feel being in this show compared to Hawaii?"

"Lost was definitely the most profound and wonderful experience I've ever had in my life and this one equals that. The group of people that we have, the quality of the work, and the success of the show all sort of parallel the feelings I had on Lost."

After answering a Q & A session, the trio did a few more interviews and attended the Grey Goose Vodka Fundraiser, whose proceeds would benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation. On the red carpet, they conducted an interview with ITV2.

"So the Vampire Diaries is coming soon to the U.K. What can you tell us about the show?"

"Expect nothing but surprises, action…" Sophia trailed off.

"Expect nothing but the unexpected," Paul continued.

"Expect some good storytelling, great acting, beautiful photography, and some very yummy, steamy sex scenes," Ian added.

"And of course we can't forget lots and lots of blood," Sophia smirked.

"What do you think it is that has launched the success of The Vampire Diaries?"

"The vampire genre has obviously had a massive resurgence because of the unbelievable box office success of Twilight," Ian answered. "It sort of paved the way for these new vampire shows. And so it's coupling and marrying and layering sex and power and danger and creating this allure. We as humans love these things that are sexy and powerful and dangerous."

"I think for women this idea that this vampire is in love with them and protective and nurturing and caring, but yet also comparatively dangerous and sort of the bad boy. I think that's kind of an appealing thing," Paul added.

"Did you notice how they both described it as their characters?" Sophia asked. They all laughed.

"One thing that a lot of people have been talking about is that the soundtrack really draws people in and they become emotionally invested."

"The producers always pick great music. A lot of Indie bands and some stuff that's a little bit more poppy and mainstream. But luckily they're very diligently searching for new Indie music that sort of hits the emotional crux of what the scene really is. We're lucky. It's those attentions to detail that really accentuate the emotionality of what's happening on screen," Ian answered.

"They really want to find songs that don't distract," Sophia added. "They just complement whatever's happening. They're very good at finding those things."

"Speaking of music, what are your own musical tastes?"

"I listen from everything to folk to the Beatles to really good hip hop," Paul answered.

"Paul actually has really good taste in music, I'm happy to announce," Ian said.

"Thanks, Ian. You too by the way."

"Thanks, man."

"I listen to a lot of different music," Sophia answered. "Most of it mainstream which these two give me a lot of shit for it. I downloaded the Kings of Leon album recently. I love them. They're awesome." Paul chuckled. "Stop making fun of me!" Sophia said to both Paul and Ian.

"What? I didn't say anything! Sweetie, don't be so sensitive," Ian said, stroking Sophia's arm.

"No, I actually like them too," Paul added.

"Oh, I like musicals, too and the Black-Eyed Peas." Ian and Paul groaned.

"It's early in the morning and the sun's not even up and when you hear the Black-Eyed Peas at seven in the morning while preparing for a scene, it makes you want to blow your brains out," Ian said.

"It makes you develop a loathing for something you'd otherwise be okay with," Paul added.

"You know what? Everyone is different and we need to respect one another in our opinion."

"Well, it seems you guys are really close."

"The only good thing about them…" Ian began.

"Thanks, Ian," Paul interjected.

"Is that we have a great amount of respect for each other and for the work. So by virtue of that you have a group of people who want nothing more than for the scenes to turn out as dynamic and committed as they possibly can."

"It's also when you're working together so much, you develop a relationship and a groove and a comfortable rhythm," Sophia added.

"We're really comfortable with each other."

Halfway through the fundraiser, Sophia received a call from her agent.

"What? But Frank, tomorrow's my day off. Yeah, yeah I understand. I'll get on the next flight."

"Something wrong?" Ian asked.

"Remember John's photo shoot in Paris?"

"Yeah, you said you weren't doing it since your friend, Adriana, was."

"She backed out and John's asking for me. He's desperate."

"Honey, tomorrow's our anniversary."

"I know," Sophia whimpered, feeling incredibly guilty. "I'm so sorry. I promise I'll make it up to you." She kissed him. "I've got to go get a flight. I'll be back by Wednesday."

"Be safe," Ian said before Sophia left. She smiled and walked out the door to hail a cab. "Great, just great."

"Where'd Sophie go?" Paul asked, walking to their table with a drink.

"Paris. Emergency photo shoot tomorrow. There goes my plan."

"But tomorrow you were going to—"

"I know. Change in plans," Ian said, getting an idea.

The next day, Sophia had spent every spare moment in Paris checking her phone. She missed Ian terribly and felt horrible that she had to cancel their traditional anniversary dinner. Usually, she would have enjoyed a shoot with John, but her emotions were all over the charts.

"I'm a horrible girlfriend," Sophia muttered when she returned to her hotel that night. As she reached the door to her room, her phone buzzed. It was a text from Ian. _Thinking of your eyes. How I want to be looking into them right now. This second. XO._ Sophia smiled. He was so sweet.

When Sophia entered her room, she was surprised to see that the lights were turned off. She remembered leaving them on when she had left. Her purse fell to the floor when she saw the small dining room was lit with candles. Ian was leaning against the table with a glass of wine.

"Surprise," Ian whispered as he placed his glass on table. "You couldn't come to dinner so I brought dinner to you." A wide smile graced Sophia's features as she ran into Ian's arms and kissed him.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more."

"I'm so sorry about today. If it hadn't have been John, you know I wouldn't—"

"Shh," said Ian as he placed a finger on her lips. "It's okay. I understand. John's your friend and you always help your friends. It's one of the things I love about you."

"You didn't have to do all of this," said Sophia, looking at the romantic ambience. "I was going to be back tomorrow."

"But then it wouldn't have been an anniversary dinner. It would have just been… dinner."

"I don't think I've seen you so persistent before. It's very sexy."

"Well, I have a surprise for you."

"Really? What kind of surprise?"

"Sophie," Ian started as he bent down on one knee. Sophia's jaw about dropped to the floor.

"Oh my God," she choked out.

"When I first met you, I became lost in your eyes. And every time since then all I've seen in them is my future. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be. You are the other half of my heart and I know I don't want to live without you. And if you'll let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way," said Ian as he pulled out a ring box. "Sophia Katya King, will you marry me?"

This had been the moment Sophia had been waiting for for seven years. She loved Ian to death. He was the only one who saw _her_. Not Sophia King the model, not Sophia King the actress, not even Sophia King, an heir to the King family fortune, just Sophie.

"Yes," Sophia cried as she pounced on him. "Yes!" They kissed and Ian opened the small black jewelry box. Inside was a beautiful vintage ring with a European-cut diamond flanked on each side by a sapphire. "It's beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you," said Ian as he placed the ring on Sophia's left hand and kissed her.


	8. Sick Muse

After spending Christmas with both the Kings and Somerhalders and telling them about their engagement, Sophia and Ian were in New York City attending the TCAs alongside Paul Wesley.

"Thank you guys for coming in to do this interview. And Sophia, happy birthday," the reporter said as the three actors sat down.

"Thank you."

"What's it been like spending your birthday in New York?"

"It's been great. I love New York. It's one of my favorite cities."

"It was funny. Right as we were landing, Sophie woke up from a nap, I woke up from a nap, Paul woke up from a nap. And the flight attendant brought us shots of tequila. They didn't know it was her birthday. And she looks at me and says I don't think I've ever done that before, meaning waking up from a nap, it's 11:30, and have a shot of tequila waiting," Ian added.

"So Ian, how much fun is it to play a badass? Where does that come from inside you?"

"More fun than I could ever possibly imagine, the most fun I've ever had in the entire run of my career and it just continues to be more and more fun every day. I am not a maniacal killer, but I find some similarities and things I have in common with Damon. There are two relationships that he wants back, his brother and his girl. And I know what it's like to fight with my brother, and I know what it's like to not have my girl. So I think there's a lot of common denominators between me and him. And I appreciate him. I find that I can't judge him, even though sometimes that's a bit difficult due to his actions."

"So he's doing all the bad stuff for love?"

"I think, to sum it all up, I think he's doing all of this for love, strangely enough, and he's going to stop at absolutely nothing. That poses a lot of problems for people who are going to try and stand in his way. It's going to be highly problematic for them. His one soft spot though is Emma, the love of his life. You see these little pieces of humanity in him when he's around her. All these sort of crazy things that he does you now see why and you sort of start to be able to put the pieces together. It's kind of the old adage love conquers all. Even with someone as maniacal and crazy as Damon, he at the end of the day is so in love that it's making him do some crazy stuff. Now while it would be very difficult for us to agree with what he's doing, we've all been in love and we all know how powerful that is. In the coming episodes, Damon and Emma kind of change their mode to accommodate to their goals. Damon, especially changes the way he does things…on a dime. And it's intentional. He switches it up a bit. And through that course of action, he finds himself a little weaker, not as all powerful as he's used to being."

"Now Ian we've heard you've had a few biting requests?"

"Yeah. I've had people ask me to bite various parts of their bodies, but I generally just have to smile and politely decline because there are major problems associated with randomly biting people in the street. One of them is legality. Another may be the fact that they're extremely young and their 6'4" father's standing there with a baseball bat. Or that they're married. Or that my lovely and wonderful girlfriend is standing next to me going 'Uh-uh, it ain't gonna happen.'"

"So after the fall finale are we going to start to see more of the relationship between Damon, Emma, and Elena?"

"In the next episode that we're going to see, there is going to be a lot more of Emma and Elena. And that's as much as I think I can say," Sophia answered.

"Sophia, you were one of the first actors cast, correct?"

"Of the three of us, yes. Steven McQueen, Nina Dobrev, and I were cast at about the same time. My audition just sort of happened. I went into the room and I took the character as I interpreted it and they liked it so we went forward and did some audition tapes 'cause I had to fly to Paris to do a photo shoot and it sort of worked out. They were really struggling to find the right guys for Damon and Stefan. When Ian read for it, he was perfect. He was really born for this role and Kevin and Julie knew it. It was really just a matter of convincing the network."

"Now have you seen a lot of the billboards and promotional photos?"

"No. Not really. I had a bunch of friends texting and emailing me about the billboards in New York and L.A. which is really cool and exciting. The one that's of me lying down on my back with the two guys beside me. I think the tag line was 'don't worry, they don't bite…much.' We shot that a few months ago on a green screen and I was in this really uncomfortable position. I swear my back was ripped after that because I had to hold it for so long. Every night I came home from work, I commissioned Ian to give me massages it was so painful."

"It's hard being gorgeous," Ian added.

"Let's talk bloopers. Any embarrassing moments on or off set? We hear, Paul, that you are always beating yourself up for flubbing a take."

"What? Really? Okay guys, who wants to embarrass themselves? I remember there was this one blooper when Sophie was Emma in 1864 and you had that really long dress and fell. She was trying to be all sexy," said Paul.

"Adorable and sexy," Ian added.

"And then she was 'Boys, chase me.'"

"And then she was like 'wham,' and all you just see are her knickers."

"And then I couldn't get up because it was so much dress that I was just sitting there like 'save me.' And these two dorks are just laughing hysterically," said Sophia, blushing.

"We didn't even help her! It's on camera," Ian added.

"Are you still happy about working in Atlanta? It's been cold."

"Yeah. I think we're extremely isolated. It's a very heavy workload, and so by virtue of that, we're not out much anyway. But, Atlanta is very good to us. We're not exposed all the time. There's no media there that we have access to," Ian answered. "This time yesterday I think it was fifteen degrees and I was shooting a scene. We're outside and there's a moment when you feel your extremities start to burn a little bit. And as I'm in this scene, I could feel my body changing and then you yell cut and I look around and all you see are these people. It looked like a North Face commercial. Everyone's in all these really thick, heavy parkas. You can only see people's eyes and I just looked around and thought 'wow, this is what it'd look like if I lived in Siberia.' Except I'm in Atlanta, Georgia. And they're all looking at me like 'wow, I can't believe he doesn't have any clothes on.'"

"I think one of the great things about being in Atlanta is that we have each other and only each other really in a sense. We don't really have a social life and when we do, it's the three of us, which I think creates for more chemistry on screen. And I think that's fantastic. If we were in L.A. or some other major metropolis with, like, tons of friends and distractions, I think it would be detrimental," Paul further explained.

"Yeah, we're in our little bubble. We love our bubble," said Sophia.

"Paul, fans want to know what a normal day is like for you when you're not working."

"I feel like I'm always working and thank God because otherwise, I would be miserable. I have the weekends but then I'm usually doing some kind of press. Boring answer but true. When I'm not working, I'm on the phone with Ian or Sophie."

"Talking about work," said Sophie.

"Or the script," Ian added.

"Or press," Paul finished.

"Ian and Paul, are you kind of like brothers in real life?"

"We're like brothers. I mean it's kind of funny. Today, Sophie's asleep on the plane, and Paul and I look at each other and we're literally, wearing the same clothes. We walk out and go 'Okay, dude, which one is going to change?' Flip a coin. We like going back to flashbacks when we actually like each other on the show. We have a lot of fun."

"So, Ian, Sophia, or Paul, which of you would make the best vampire in real life?"

"Definitely me," Ian answered.

"I agree," Sophia confirmed.

"Ian does have hypnotic eyes. But Sophie I thought you were convinced _I'm_ a vampire?" Paul asked.

"Ian has this vampire quality, but Paul has fangs," Sophia explained as Paul showed off his pointy canines. "And he just appears places and he's very brooding."

After the TCAs, Sophia and Ian left to do an interview on Live with Regis and Kelly.

"Please welcome Ian Somerhalder and Sophia King," said Regis, introducing the stars. Sophia and Ian walked on stage and took their seats.

"Thanks for having us on," said Ian, shaking Regis' hand.

"We're glad you could make it. So Ian you're originally from New Orleans. Were a model for a long time. Came up here to New York City. You were still modeling right?"

"At the time. That was a long time ago."

"It was funny," said Sophia. "As we were walking here, we passed the buildings we lived in."

"Did you two live in one of those model houses with a bunch of models?" Kelly asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," said Ian. "You know, when you're sixteen and…I don't think anyone was over twenty."

"No food in the fridge."

"No, it was like the three-year old bottle of mustard in the fridge."

"Well, you two have done quite well since then. Sophia, you've been in several feature films and you were on Lost for a year, Ian, which has become the big ABC hit. And they killed you off!" Regis said.

"Yeah. And I was here right after they killed me. This was my last stop."

"How did they kill you? Did the dinosaur get you? Tell me the truth. You're not on the show anymore. How are all these people dying?"

"It's the flu. I actually fell 30,000 feet from a 767 and survived and I fell thirty feet out of a beach craft and died." The crowd laughed.

"Listen, I used to work on a soap opera and I know death is not enough to kill a character. Are you coming back?" Kelly asked.

"I am."

"I knew it! Death never kills anybody."

"I'm really thankful and happy those guys figured all that out. It's fun. I flew back, ten hour flight there, ten hour flight back and then I was on the ground for about 24 hours."

"Now this vampire series, there was another vampire show that you auditioned for before this one. True Blood. What happened there?" Regis asked.

"Oh, that was bad," Sophia muttered.

"I bombed the audition with Alan Ball."

"What does that mean?"

"I just couldn't…I blew it."

"He was miserable for weeks," Sophia added.

"And I couldn't watch True Blood at all 'cause I was really sad."

"So then comes along Vampire Diaries and you both give it a try."

"And we got this one. It was hard, but we got it. And now I can watch True Blood."

"Vampires continue to be hot. The audiences love them," said Regis.

"It's an interesting thing."

"Tell us about your character."

"My guy is kind of the coolest one of the bunch. He dresses well, he has this really hot girl, he gets the best lines."

"Kevin Williamson writes the best lines for Damon," Sophia agreed. "He's such a good dialogue writer."

"Now, Sophia, what about your character?"

"Well, I have to say Emma Petrova puts Bella Swan and Sookie Stackhouse to shame. She is basically like the female version of Damon." The audience cheered.

"Now part of the show is about a high school girl who falls in love."

"Yeah, real original story," Ian quipped. "Mortal girl falls in love with a vampire, but my character and Sophie's character come in and mix things up."

"Now you guys have been pretty much out of the spotlight of Hollywood."

"Yeah, we have a house outside of Atlanta we're staying at during filming," said Sophia.

"Well, everyone here has been talking about and spreading rumors about an engagement in the near future. I mean, it seems like you guys have been dating forever." Ian and Sophia both laughed and looked at each other.

"Well, you know it was funny. When we first met Paul who plays Stefan on the show, we were so joined at the hip, he thought we were married," Sophia answered. "The expression on his face when I told him we'd been dating for seven years was priceless. His eyes could not have gotten any wider."

"Has it really been seven years? It seems longer than that," Ian laughed.

"Well, we've known each other since we did modeling. It was only when you did Rules of Attraction that we started to date. I was working on Chicago and we kind of bumped into each other. We had coffee, it just took off, and here we are seven years later…joined at the hip."

"Hey, do you want to tell them?" asked Ian, placing his hand on Sophia's knee.

"You want to do it now? Here?" Sophia asked, surprised. Ian only shrugged. "That's what I love about you. He's so spontaneous." Sophia grabbed her clutch and pulled out a wedding ring. "I'm sorry to break the hearts of ladies around the country, but Mr. Smolderholder is officially off the market."

"Oh my God! You guys are getting married," said Kelly.

"We're getting married," Ian confirmed.

"Wow. How long have you been engaged?" Regis asked.

"We were in London doing a press tour and I had to leave for Paris to do a photo shoot. Unfortunately, the day of the photo shoot was on our anniversary so Ian flew all the way from England, surprised me with dinner, and he popped the question. And I was floored. One of the happiest moments in my life. Hands down. And I said yes. I mean, come on. Who can say no to a face like that?"

"Is there a date for the wedding?"

"Um, we haven't really talked about a date," Ian answered. "I think we're still kind of in the processing stage. I mean we've lived together for years and I just thought what the hell. Let's make it official. But I can promise you that we will not be waiting seven more years for a wedding. My mother might kill me if we did that."

"Well, thank you guys so much for coming by. It's been so long since we last had you on," said Regis.

"Well, it was our pleasure," Sophia returned.

"That's it for Live with Regis and Kelly, folks, and make sure to tune into The Vampire Diaries, Thursday nights at eight on the CW."


	9. Slice

The night of Paleyfest, Paul and Ian were talking while Sophia was being interviewed by TV Guide Magazine.

"You know she's probably talking about us right," said Paul, referring to Sophia's ongoing interview.

"When isn't she?" Ian smirked.

"Describe for us what's it like working with Ian and Paul," the reporter asked Sophia.

"Well, it's really great for me because I get to work with my fiancé, but all three of us. We're like a big family. So just like families we bicker and we laugh and we make fun of each other. We know everything about each other. So at every opportunity when I can push their buttons I definitely do."

"What would push their buttons?"

"Um, for Paul, chewing gum loudly bugs him so much. I scare Ian a lot. Like I'll just hide behind a corner or behind a doorway on one of the dark sets and just pop out of nowhere and scream. He screams like a little girl."

"What are you two ladies talking about?" asked Ian, joining his fiancée.

"Sophia says she can make you scream like a little girl."

"Really?" Ian smirked.

"Not what you're thinking of, dear," said Sophia, knowing sex was on his mind. "We were talking about how I scare you all the time."

"Oh yeah. She is a monster." After concluding her interview, Paul, Ian, and Sophia went behind stage and waited for their introductions.

"This is going to be the best Paleyfest night ever," said Craig Tomashoff from TV Guide Magazine. "The thing I really love about this show is that the writing is funny. For a show that's a fantasy show about vampires, there's something that's so realistic about the relationships that they don't even need to be vampires. It's a show about people. Oddly, it's a show about humans that has a lot of undead people in it. Alright. You ready for everybody to come out?" The crowd cheered. "Alright. Let's meet the people responsible for this. First, welcome executive producer, Bob Levy. Next, another executive producer, Julie Plec. Next, Mr. Paul Wesley. Next up, you know her as the sexy Emma Petrova or as Katherine Pierce or you might know her as Sophia King. Next, Ian Somerhalder." Ian and Sophia looked at each other and smiled. "Next, creator, executive producer, genius of a human being, Kevin Williamson. Alright, let's get started. If you could compel anyone to say or do anything, what would it be?"

"I would compel our executive producers to get whatever we wanted," said Ian. "We have everything we could ever want and more, but…"

"Selfishly, we just want to know what's going to happen next," Paul finished.

"We'd like warm weather in Atlanta," Ian added.

"Yes," Sophia agreed. "I have pitched the idea that Emma wants to go to Australia."

"Yeah, the whole next episode takes place in a hot tub." Ian said as Sophia laughed.

"That's pretty realistic for Damon," Paul added.

"Why do you think I have this job?" Ian returned.

"So this show has been massively successful. At what point did it hit each and every one of you 'okay, this isn't just a show. This is something else'? Let's start with you, Bob."

"For me, it was the first day Ian Somerhalder worked on the Pilot in Vancouver because we knew from day one Sophia was going to be fabulous, but that central romantic relationship had to be the center of the series and you don't know when you get there if it's going to work. And Julie comes to me and says, they're dating and now they're getting married. But I was a little skeptical because being off-screen is different than on, but Julie was right."

"Congratulations on your engagement by the way."

"Thank you," Ian said. "We're very excited."

"I was watching this commercial for a car during the Superbowl," said Julie. "And a bunch of these guys are being like yes, I will do what you ask me to do and I will say be nice to your mother, and I will watch your vampire TV shows. And I was with all my friends and they're like that's so cool, because prior to us there was only one vampire TV show. So plural means we matter." Ian and Sophia laughed.

"What about you, Paul?"

"I don't know. It's been so gradual. A big moment was believe it or not…we did this appearance at a mall in Atlanta at Hot Topic and I remember we took this big bus, the whole cast. And I turned to Sophie and Ian and I said I don't know if anybody's going to be there. This could be really embarrassing."

"Imagine this room like times seven," Ian added.

"And we got out and it was literally thousands of people screaming. I couldn't even hear myself. And I was literally like, 'whoa, people watch our show.'"

Ian laughed and added, "I think that was the moment for every single one of us."

"Speaking of public outings, Sophia, do guys dare come up to you and try to talk to you or are they too scared?"

"Well, we don't let her out much," said Ian.

"I would punch them in the face," Paul added.

"It's a problem because we spend so much time together. Guys won't really come up to me when they see these two."

"Back in the day, as actors, did you guys think I don't know. This is Twilight. I don't know if I want to do this. Or were you able to spot right away this show is different?"

"When Sophie and I first started working, we were sitting at the dinner table. We got through the first five, ten pages of the Pilot. We looked up at each other and we literally said, 'Oh my God, this is Twilight,'" Ian began, "But we finished it and we were both very impressed. This is a very, very well constructed story with very well, developed characters and they live in this sort of strange mystical world, which is like Kevin said, because I like to quote him. Always do. He knows what he's saying. It's about this town. There's people who live in this town and a bunch of crazy stuff happens to them."

"Sophie, actually called us at one point concerning Twilight and she said 'you guys wrote this great line for Emma, but it's like exactly what happened in Twilight, like down to the words,'" Julie said.

"Oh yeah. I had to get that line changed."

"I remember that," Ian added.

"Was that just like your subconscious working?" Paul asked Julie.

"It must have been," Sophia said.

"Paul and I went are you sure? That's exactly what she said?" Kevin asked.

"We had a True Blood moment too," Julie admitted. "It was a purely accidental scene that Marcos Siega who's our director and co-executive producer called and he said 'guys, I directed this episode of True Blood.'"

"Our special effects people also do True Blood," Kevin said. "And it helps because we tell them whatever you do for True Blood, don't do it for us. We want to be different. We want to be unique. So it almost helps to have the same people so we know what to steer away from."

"I didn't know that," Ian said as the crowd laughed. "Learn something new everyday."

"One thing I think makes a difference is the chemistry among the three of you. To me, that's the show. The way you all interact."

"We hate each other," Ian, Sophia, and Paul said.

"I was going to get to that much later, but how much do you hate each other?"

"We loathe each other," Paul said.

"We're actors. We have to pretend," Sophia joked. "No. I'm kidding."

"In all seriousness, we're lucky to have the relationship that we have," Ian added, taking Sophie's hand.

"So you guys, have great fight scenes."

"Those are hard," Ian and Paul admitted.

"There was this one scene in Children of the Damned. It didn't make the final cut, but it's basically a continuation of the scene in which Emma's furious at Damon because of the deal he made with Stefan and she just beats the crap out of him," Paul continued.

"Oh yeah. That scene was fun," Sophia mused.

"For you maybe," Ian added. "She secretly enjoyed it because she could never do that home."

"How many times have you had to redo kiss scenes?" The crowd cheered.

"A lot," Ian replied. "I like to screw up the take so they have to redo the take over and over again. Just get it perfect, you know what I mean?" Sophia laughed.

"Do you like the flashback scenes?"

"I love and hate the corsets and getting dressed," said Sophia. "It's like a thirty-minute process."

"Don't lie. You love them," Ian said.

"I love them."

"She literally has to have a thing to lean on to eat 'cause she can't eat anything because it's so tight. She can't sit so she leans on this thing and she just looks miserable, but she leans on this thing," Ian explained as he flashed an awkward smile.

"Is that what I look like?"

"Well, you look happy and in pain. Happy, in pain."

"Good to know."

"You look amazing." She shoots him a look. "I love you."

"You can tell they get along so well because I'll watch the dailies and you see in between the cuts the flubs and you just see how they know each other so well," Kevin added.

"We forget you guys watch the stuff in between," Paul said. "That's a scary thought."

"Man, that line sucks," Kevin joked.

"I said that the other day though," Ian said. "And you're going to see it in the dailies and hate me. I said this lame line that makes me lose the scene, but I was in character. It was Damon who said it. Don't hold it against me."

"I didn't write it I'm sure," Kevin said.

"That must be a great excuse for you now. Everywhere you go it was Damon. Had nothing to do with me."

"I do that every day of my life."

"You have no idea," Sophia added.

"Now between the three of you because there's such great chemistry, does each of you sort of play a different role with each other. Is one of you the instigator?"

"Ian!" Sophia and Paul yelled. The crowd laughed.

"Anything in particular?"

"No, actually, Ian is one of the most professional actors that I've ever worked with," Paul admitted. "Seriously."

"Ditto, my friend. I love this man."

"I just like the stories of when they all have to fly together," Julie said. "Sophie's like 'oh, my bag's lost' and the boys are like 'come on. We have go.' 'But I don't have my dress.'"

"We'll fly somewhere for one day and Sophie has like a huge suitcase!" Ian exclaimed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You know what? All the girls in here understand." Screams resounded in the room. "A girl's got to have a couple pairs of shoes. On top of everything we were going to a lot of events and we had to change."

"Couldn't you threaten the people at the airline counter a little bit on her behalf to get someone to find her luggage?"

"No, they left her at the airport," Julie answered.

"They left me! On my birthday!"

"We told her to take a taxi!"

"Do you see what I have to live with! Seven years with this man and he's still a child! Don't let his good looks fool you! There's a little devil hiding inside him."

"So explain to us how you got inside your character's heads."

"Well for Damon, Kevin told me Damon is Cary Grant which made it stick for me. When you watch Cary Grant on screen, you just see the effortless fluidity in which he speaks, and breathes, and moves. And you just go 'whoa!' And there's something about that that makes you want to watch every single frame and so every single movie he's ever done I would just watch and watch and watch. When Kevin said that to me, it just stuck. I think Damon secretly wants to be Cary Grant."

"Probably met him," Sophia added.

"Damon probably met him and they partied together on Sunset Boulevard."

"That's where Cary got his shtick," Kevin joked.

"How about you, Paul? How'd you get into your character?"

"I try to approach Stefan as a guy who is like a recovering alcoholic in a bar where there's free booze and it's just on tap and they're like drinks for free! And the bartender AKA Damon is just buying him shots."

"I just want to hug Stefan sometimes," said Ian. "Just say 'it's okay, man. It's okay. Just, just bite her.'" He took Emma's arm and imitated biting her and the crowd cheered and laughed. "It's so simple."

"If only," Paul added.

"And you Sophia?" the mediator asked.

"Before we started filming the Pilot, Julie and Kevin both told me I'd be playing Katherine and Emma and I asked them, how are they different? And I think it was Julie who said Emma is this badass vampire, but she's one of the oldest vampires of all time. She's been around the world. She has this presence that Katherine just doesn't have. She's felt pain. She knows human nature and she has this soft side that we're starting to see. Katherine doesn't have that. She's still kind of a brat. Julie also told me Emma taught Damon everything he knows. So I just copied everything Ian does."

"I didn't know you did that," Ian said.

"That's cool," Paul complemented.

"Stupid, but cool," Ian added.

"So how long does it take to put on the makeup when you guys turn into vampires?"

"A lot of it is computer generated now. It used to not be in the earlier episodes. Now it's pretty simple. You put these huge contacts in your eye, takes up your whole eye. My makeup takes a lot less time than Paul's does," Ian answered.

"What?"

"That's why he's so pretty."

"Yeah, who's the pretty one here, buddy?" asked Paul as the crowd cheered and Ian pointed to Sophia. "I was referring to Sophie."

"I know. That's why I pointed to her. It is actually a lot of fun. I don't know about Paul, but when you put the teeth in and the eyes in, you immediately become a different person."

"It's scary," Sophia added.

"It scares her."

"One of the two of you, I can't remember which one. Had your fangs in and I said how does that all fit in your mouth and this was before I did a biting scene and one of you was like here, let's see if it hurts."

"Oh that was me," Ian admitted.

"You bit me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize. It punctured her skin. It was not good."

"It was painful."

"I promise I'll never do that again."

"Thank you. That's why I don't go near him anymore when he has his fangs in off-screen."

"They're sharp. I literally go to some very weird, very dark places. I have this creative license whether the camera's rolling or not just to scare the hell out of people." The crowd laughed. "And I do. But it's really interesting and I think Paul would agree that there's a certain, not to be too cerebral about it, metamorphosis that happens."

"You become a savage," Paul continued.

"Alright, I want to thank you guys for coming. Give it up for the Vampire Diaries cast, guys!"


	10. Never Stop

Sophia was looking through the full-length mirror in the carriage house of Hopeland Gardens in Aiken, South Carolina. Today was her wedding day.

"I think you're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen," said Jack, walking into the room.

"Hi, Daddy. How's Ian?"

"Ready to marry you. I've never seen him so excited." Sophia smiled brightly. "Does he make you happy, sweetie?"

"Happier than I've ever been."

"Well, that's all I need to hear. Let's get this show on the road. Your mother's waiting."

Outside the guests, Ian, and his two best men, Paul and Matt Davis, were waiting near the rectangular pool in the gardens, anticipating the entrance of Sophia's bridesmaids and Sophia herself.

First to come down the aisle was Sophia's best friend from high school, Julie. The maid of honor was soon followed by Nina, Candice, and Katerina. All of them wore a short charmeuse dress with a black lace illusion neckline. Side ruching and soft ruffles in the back added a touch of unexpected drama to the deep blue satin.

As the wedding march began, all the guests stood up and looked toward the brick steps. Within seconds, a smiling Sophia walked down the aisle with her mother and father in a stunning lace dress with a plunging neckline. Her hair was adorned with lilies.

"Oh, I wish your grandmother had lived to see this," Sophia's mother muttered.

"She's right there," said Sophia, seeing her grandmother in the crowd.

"Not that old crow, my mother," said Shelly. As they stopped by the altar, Shelly kissed her daughter on the cheek. "Congratulations, darling."

"I love you, sweetheart," said Jack as he kissed her and they sat down. Ian took Sophie's hand.

"You look beautiful," he whispered. She smiled.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the joining of Sophia Katya King and Ian Joseph Somerhalder in the bonds of holy matrimony. We'll begin with the vows," said the officiator.

"Sophie, from the day we met, you surprised me, challenged me, and engaged me in a way that no other person has. Together we've cried. Together we've laughed - sometimes with each other and sometimes at each other, but always together. We've already experienced so many challenges, some good and some not so good and I always thought that I was strong enough and brave enough to handle anything. Over the years I learned that it wasn't just me, but it's from us that I had gained my courage, strength, and conviction. I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for you. As I look at you now, you make it so easy to love you - your inner glow, your gorgeous smile, your loving eyes, the way people are drawn to you and especially the way you look at me. Each morning I look at you and I see love looking back. You are already my best friend, my companion, and my soul mate, but today, I take you as my wife. All I have to offer is me, my life, and all that you will help me become." Sophie's eyes welled with tears as she smiled.

"Ian, a friend once told me, that people come into your life for a reason, and only stay for as long as they are needed. Looking back I can't remember a time that I wasn't in love with you. Your passion and your energy have and continue to inspire me in ways I never thought possible. You are my best friend, my soul mate. Since we have been together, you have provided me with strength, security, confidence, honesty, love, and plenty of much needed guidance. I would not be complete if you were not with me. Where there has been cold, you brought warmth; where my life was dark, you brought light. In my darkest trouble, in my coldest silence, I looked for you and you were there. You may not realize it but you have helped and saved me in so many ways. I love you completely; not only for who you are, but also for who I am when I'm with you. I am a better person because of you. I promise to always be honest and fair to you, I will trust you, respect you, and support your dreams. I am honored that you will have me as your wife and I am proud to have you as my husband. I believe that we were meant to be from the start. I will always love you with all my heart and I will need you forever. This is my promise to you on our wedding day and for each day that follows. For love would have no meaning without you."

Several "awws" and sniffling was heard by the couple. God, did Ian want to kiss her right then, but he managed to restrain himself.

"Ian, do you take this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together in holy matrimony, to love her, to honor her, to comfort her, and to keep her in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do," Ian said with no ounce of doubt in his voice.

"Sophia, do you take this man to be your husband, to live together in holy matrimony, to love him, to honor him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"The rings?" Ian turned to Paul, who handed him Sophia's ring.

"I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love," Ian said as he placed the wedding band on Sophia's finger. Sophia then turned to Julie who handed her a ring.

"I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love."

"By virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of South Carolina, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." They kissed and the only thing that could have made the moment more spectacular would have been fireworks in the background.

Half an hour later, all the guests had settled into a ballroom provided by Hopeland Gardens.

"Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Ian Somerhalder," said the D.J. as Ian and Sophia walked into the room, smiling brightly. "As per tradition, please clear the dance floor for the happy couple's first dance."

As Ian twirled Sophie on the dance floor, Safetysuit's Never Stop played.

_This is my love song to you_

_Let every woman know I'm yours_

_So you can fall asleep each night, babe_

_And know I'm dreaming of you more_

_You're always hoping that we make it_

_You always wanna keep my gaze_

_Well, you're the only one I see_

_And that's the one thing that won't change_

_I will never stop tryin'_

_I will never stop watchin' as you leave_

_I will never stop losing my breath_

_Every time I see you lookin' back at me_

_And I will never stop holding your hand_

_I will never stop opening your door_

_I will never stop choosin' you, babe_

_I will never get used to you_

_And with this love song to you_

_It's not a momentary phase_

_You are my life, I don't deserve you_

_But you love me just the same_

_And as the mirror says we're older_

_I will not look the other way_

_You are my life, my love, my only_

_And that's the one thing that won't change_

_I will never stop tryin'_

_I will never stop watchin' as you leave_

_I will never stop losing my breath_

_Every time I see you lookin' back at me_

_And I will never stop holding your hand_

_I will never stop opening your door_

_I will never stop choosin' you, babe_

_I will never get used to you_

_You still get my heart racing, for you_

_You still get my heart racing, for you_

_You still get my heart racing, for you_

_You still get my heart racing, for you_

_I will never stop tryin'_

_I will never stop watchin' as you leave_

_I will never stop losing my breath_

_Every time I see you lookin' back at me_

_And I will never stop holding your hand_

_I will never stop opening your door_

_I will never stop choosin' you, babe_

_I will never get used to you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

_You still get my heart racing for you_

"I love you, Ian Somerhalder."

"I love you, Sophia Somerhalder."

"Hmm. I like the sound of that," Sophia smiled.


	11. She's A Genius

"Our next star on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is one of the leading ladies from The Vampire Diaries which has become a big hit on the CW. Please welcome Sophia King!" said Jimmy as Sophia walked out in a blue Menna dress. "Thanks so much for coming."

"It's my pleasure, Jimmy," said Sophia as she sat down.

"So you just got married!"

"I did. Ian and I tied the knot."

"We actually have pictures."

"Do you?" Jimmy pulled out a magazine featuring the couple. "Oh yeah. We released the wedding photos to OK."

"I must say you look absolutely gorgeous. Where was this at? The scenery's absolutely beautiful."

"Yeah. We had the wedding in my hometown in Aiken, South Carolina. That's Hopeland Gardens. It's a really gorgeous place. A lot of people in town have their weddings there."

"Now the finale for your show is coming up."

"Yeah. It's the finale of the first season. Every episode of this show is very intense and particularly this one. It has a lot of cliffhangers. About eight of them I think. Some people die. You're either going to love or hate some characters by the end of it."

"Now tell me about your two co-stars Paul and Ian. What makes them similar?"

"Oh, well, Ian and Paul are both different and similar in many ways. When people start hanging around each other, they start to pick up on each other's quirks and tastes in music. They both have the same taste in music. It's crazy. Ian's like the jokester, the prankster. And Paul…it's funny. When Paul's on set he is very serious and very focused, a lot like his character. But as soon as he leaves the set, he has this like switch. He's this cool, fun, not that he's not cool on set…he just lets loose a little more. But they're both incredible, and awesome and professional and they're great guys to be around."

"The show has absolutely an amazing fan following. Are there any other vampire shows you follow?"

"Um, I love True Blood. I love that's it kind of edgy and sexy like our show. The vampires on that show don't disappoint."

"Any funny things that have happened on set or in production?"

"Oh, gosh, there's so many funny things that happen on set. A few months ago, I did a scene that was just hilarious. It didn't make the cut for the final product, but it was so much fun. It was in There Goes The Neighborhood and while Damon was occupied with Pearl, I was out shopping. And I'm walking down the main street in Mystic Falls and I decide I want to get a dress. So I go down this street and basically walk into every shop, seduce the clerk, compel him, have a bite or two, take whatever I want out of the store, and then leave. Stefan then shows up and says what have you been doing all day? And I was like oh I went shopping." The audience laughed hysterically. "Now, I'm not saying that's right, but it was funny. Emma's fun to play."

"She gets what she wants. Now does that cross over to you? Do you hang out at a bar, go to a party, and think anything you want is yours?"

"I try not to take that approach in life. It generally doesn't work," Sophia laughed.

"I saw your tweets. Thanks so much for saying you were coming on the show. You're very popular on Twitter. A lot of people follow you."

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Makes you think a lot about what you're saying ahead of time. Because a lot of people are getting the message."

"Now you're not a verified account because if it says verified, people know this is the real celebrity. It's not like a fake…perv at home."

"Yeah, you're verified. I'm not verified for some reason. I've been trying to get verified forever, but it's the hardest thing."

"You and Ian Somerhalder put this picture up. You're saying this is my real twitter and verify me."

"Please. We were trying to get verified for the longest time."

"And then he got verified."

"Yeah. Ian got verified, but I didn't so…"

"Well, we're not having Ian back on," said Jimmy as Sophia laughed. "You're verified here."

"Thank you."

"You got busted for lying. You're not a good liar."

"No, I'm not the best liar."

"I'm not either. I can't play poker or anything. So you were in London and you were trying to fake doing a British accent."

"Yeah."

"Why? Why would you do that?"

"I love accents and I love doing accents and especially the British accent. It's really cool. So I went to London with Ian and Paul for a press tour for the show and I was shopping for shoes and I decided to play a character. I'm an actress. I like to be different people."

"So you got busted."

"I got busted. The girl at the counter was looking at me and mind you the show hadn't even aired yet…it was apparently the most highly illegally downloaded show in the history of England. I didn't know that though so I'm going with my British accent. The girl looks at me and says 'you're not from here. Why are you speaking like that?' And I'm like 'how do you know I'm not from here? Of course I'm from here.'"

"And the accent's getting worse and worse."

"Worse and worse." The audience laughed.

"So you're going to Australia next."

"Yeah, we're going to Australia."

"You aren't going to do an Australian accent are you?"

"I've learned my lesson at this point."

"You got to watch out in Australia. Things can kill you over there."

"What do you mean?"

"They have spiders, deadly spiders."

"Deadly spiders?"

"Yeah, Australia's not a safe place. Spiders, snakes."

"Are you kidding? There's dangerous things everywhere. There's rats the sizes of dogs here. People get mugged all the time. Everywhere you go there's scary things. I think Australia's amazing. It's beautiful."

"Alright, well be careful. You guys have got to follow Sophia on Twitter and a new episode of the Vampire Diaries airs at 8 on Thursday on the CW!"


	12. Cosmic Love

Production for Season Two of the Vampire Diaries was in full swing and Sophia and Ian were excited to attend Comic Con 2010 in San Diego. However, the couple had a few days before the event, days they decided to spend relaxing with their friends…until Sophia's brother, Derek, came over.

"Hi," said Derek, mortified.

"This guy says hello I wanna kill myself," Matt Davis muttered.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Sophia asked.

"I just feel like someone reached down my throat, grabbed my small intestine, pulled it out of my mouth and tied it around my neck."

"Cookie?" Ian offered a plate of peanut butter cookies to his brother-in-law.

"Claudia moved her stuff out today," Sophia explained.

"Ohh," everyone in the room said.

"I'll be fine, alright? Really, everyone. I hope she'll be very happy," said Derek.

"No, you don't," Sophia replied.

"No, I don't, to hell with her, she left me!"

"And you never knew she was a lesbian?" Matt asked.

"No! Okay! Why does everyone keep fixating on that? She didn't know, how should I know? I told mom and dad last night, they seemed to take it pretty well."

"Oh really, so that hysterical phone call I got from a woman sobbing at 3:00 A.M., 'I'll never have grandchildren, I'll never have grandchildren.' was what? A wrong number?" Sophia asked.

"Sorry."

"Alright Derek, look. You're feeling a lot of pain right now. You're angry. You're hurting. Can I tell you what the answer is?" Ian asked. Derek nodded. "Strip joint! C'mon, you're single! Have some hormones!" Sophia shook her head.

"I don't want to be single, okay? I just... I just wanna be married again!" Suddenly, one of Sophia's best friends in high school, Olivia, entered the house…in a wedding dress.

"And I just want a million dollars!" Ian said, extending his hand hopefully.

"Liv? What are you doing here?" Sophia asked.

"Oh God, Sophie! It was horrible!" said Olivia, hugging Sophia.

"You wanna tell me now, or should I wait for four wet bridesmaids to come into my house?"

"Oh God...well, it started about a half hour before the wedding. I was in the room where we were keeping all the presents, and I was looking at this gravy boat. This really gorgeous gravy boat. When all of a sudden I realized that I was more turned on by this gravy boat than by Brian! And then I got really freaked out, and that's when it hit me: how much Brian looks like Mr. Potato Head. Y'know, I mean, I always knew he looked familiar, but... Anyway, I just had to get out of there, and I started wondering 'Why am I doing this, and who am I doing this for?'. So anyway I just didn't know where to go and then I remembered you live here now too and here I am."

"You didn't invite me to the wedding."

"Ooh, I was kinda hoping that wouldn't be an issue."

A few minutes later, Sophia had calmed Olivia down and given her some clothes to change into. While Olivia talked to her father on the phone, Ian, Paul, Sophia, Derek, Candice, and Matt were watching a Spanish soap opera on television, trying to figure out what was going on in the show.

"Now I'm guessing that he bought her the big pipe organ, and she's really not happy about it," said Sophia.

"Tuna or egg salad? Decide!" said Ian, imitating the characters.

"I'll have whatever Christine is having," Paul said in a deep voice.

"Daddy, I just... I can't marry him! I'm sorry. I just don't love him. Well, it matters to me!" said Olivia on the phone as the scene on the TV changed to show two women, one holding her hair.

"If I let go of my hair, my head will fall off," said Candice.

"Ooh, she should not be wearing those pants," Derek grimaced.

"I say push her down the stairs," said Matt.

"Push her down the stairs! Push her down the stairs! Push her down the stairs!" the five of them yelled. The woman was pushed down the stairs and everyone cheered.

"C'mon Daddy, listen to me! It's like, it's like, all of my life, everyone has always told me, 'You're a shoe! You're a shoe, you're a shoe, you're a shoe!'." Sophia turned off the TV and everyone on the couch turned to look at Olivia in the kitchen. "And today I just stopped and I said, 'What if I don't wanna be a shoe? What if I wanna be a purse, y'know? Or a hat! No, I don't want you to buy me a hat, I'm saying I am a ha- It's a metaphor, Daddy!"

"You can see where he'd have trouble," said Paul.

"Look Daddy, it's my life. Well maybe I'll just stay here with Sophie and Ian."

"Well, I guess we've established who's staying here with us," Sophia muttered.

"Well, maybe that's my decision. Well, maybe I don't need your money. Wait! Wait, I said maybe!" Olivia yelled as her father hung up. A few minutes later, Olivia was breathing into a paper bag.

"Just breathe, breathe…that's it. Just try to think of nice calm things," said Sophia, comforting her friend.

"Raindrops on roses and rabbits and kittens," Candice began to sing as Sophia and Olivia looked at her. "Bluebells and sleigh bells and- something with mittens... La la la la...something and noodles with string. These are a few..."

"I'm all better now," said Olivia.

"I helped!" said Candice to Ian and Matt as she walked into the kitchen.

"Okay, look, this is probably for the best, y'know? Independence. Taking control of your life. The whole, 'hat' thing," said Sophia.

"And hey, you need anything, you can always come to me," said Matt.

"Matt, stop hitting on her! It's her wedding day!" Sophia scolded.

"What? Like there's a rule or something?" Sophia rolled her eyes.

"So Olivia, what're you, uh... what're you up to tonight?" Derek asked.

"Well, I was kinda supposed to be headed for Aruba on my honeymoon, so nothing!"

"Right, you're not even getting your honeymoon, God." Sophia stepped on his toes. "Ah…no, no, although, Aruba, this time of year... talk about your…big lizards... Anyway, if you don't feel like being alone tonight, Ian, Paul, and Matt are coming over to help me put together my new furniture."

"Yes, and we're very excited about it," Ian deadpanned.

"Well thanks, but I think I'm just gonna hang out here tonight. It's been kinda a long day," Olivia replied.

"Okay, sure."

"Hey, Candice, you wanna help?" Matt asked.

"Oh, I wish I could, but I don't want to."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Ian muttered.

That night, Ian, Paul, and Matt were at Derek's apartment in Atlanta, helping him assemble some furniture.

"I'm supposed to attach a brackety thing to the side things, using a bunch of these little worm guys," said Derek, squatting as he read a set of instructions. "I have no brackety thing, I see no worm guys whatsoever and I cannot feel my legs."

"I'm thinking we've got a bookcase here," said Matt.

"It's a beautiful thing," said Ian.

"What's this?" Paul asked, picking up a leftover part.

"I would have to say that is an 'L'-shaped bracket," said Matt.

"Which goes where?"

"I have no idea." Paul checked to see if Derek was looking and dumped the part in a pot holding a plant.

"Done with the bookcase!" Ian yelled.

"All finished!"

"This was Claudia's favorite beer," said Derek, clutching a beer can and sniffing. "She always drank it out of the can, I should have known."

"Hey-hey-hey-hey, if you're gonna start with that stuff we're outta here," said Matt.

"Yes, please don't spoil all this fun," Ian replied sarcastically.

"Derek, let me ask you a question. She got the furniture, the stereo, the good TV… what did you get?" Paul asked.

"You guys."

"Oh, God," said Matt and Paul.

"You got screwed," Ian laughed.

The next morning, Ian and Paul were sitting in the breakfast nook of Ian and Sophia's house. Olivia had made coffee for them.

"Isn't this amazing? I mean, I have never made coffee before in my entire life," said Olivia.

"That is amazing," said Ian.

"Congratulations," Paul added.

"Y'know, I figure if I can make coffee, there isn't anything I can't do."

"No, I think it's if I can invade Poland, there isn't anything I can't do," Ian corrected.

"Listen, while you're on a roll, if you feel like you gotta make like a Western omelet or something," Paul added. Paul and Ian both took a sip of their coffee and grimaced. They poured it into a plant pot. "Although actually I'm really not that hungry."

"Hey, honey," said Sophia, walking into the kitchen.

"Hi." They kissed languidly.

"Guys, come on," said Paul, averting his eyes.

"Sorry. Were we doing it again?" Ian asked.

"We're waiting for the honeymoon period to be over," Paul explained to Olivia. She nodded in understanding.

"Alright, I've got to go talk to Marcos about some stuff for the new season of the show. I'll see you later," said Ian.

"Hey, I'll go with you," said Paul, grabbing his jacket.

"Don't be late for dinner tonight with my mom and dad," Sophia reminded.

"I'll be back way before then. Don't worry." Ian gave her one last kiss before he left with Paul.

"So how you doing today? Did you sleep okay? Talk to Brian? I can't stop smiling," Sophia giggled.

"I can see that. You look like you slept with a hanger in your mouth."

"I know, Ian's just so, so... Do you remember you and Tony DeMarco?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, it's like that. With feelings."

"Oh wow. Are you in trouble."

"Big time!"

Later that day, Ian and Paul had returned from work and were watching television with Candice while Sophia cleaned up the house.

"Oh, I think this is the episode where there's some kind of misunderstanding," said Paul.

"Then I've already seen this one!" said Candice as she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV.

"Are you through with that?" Sophia asked as she took away Ian's drink mid-swallow.

"Yeah, sorry, the swallowing slowed me down."

"Whose little ball of paper is this?" Sophia asked seeing a piece of paper on a table by the couch.

"Oh, uh, that would be mine," said Paul. "See, I wrote a note to myself, and then I realized I didn't need it, so I balled it up and..." Sophia glared at him. "Now I wish I was dead." Sophia picked up the paper and fluffed a pillow on the couch.

"She's already fluffed that pillow," said Candice to Ian. "Sophie, you know, you've already fluffed that…" Sophia glared at her. "But, it's fine!"

"Look, I'm sorry, guys, I just don't wanna give them any more ammunition than they already have," Sophia sighed.

"Yes, and we all know how cruel a parent can be about the flatness of a child's pillow," Paul said sarcastically.

"Would you relax? You do this every time they come. The place looks great," said Ian. "You've got a beautiful lasagna here that looks good enough to…" Sophia slapped his hand as he went to touch it. "Avoid touching."

"Sophie, you're scaring me," said Candice. "I mean, you're like, you're like all chaotic and twirly. And not in a good way."

"Yeah, calm down. You don't see Derek getting all chaotic and twirly every time they come," Ian added.

"That's because as far as my parents are concerned, Derek can do no wrong."

"Has anybody seen my engagement ring?" Olivia asked, entering the room.

"Yeah, it's beautiful," said Candice.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God," Olivia moaned as she started to look under the couch cushions. "Like I wasn't dreading tomorrow enough, having to give it back to him... 'Hi Brian! Remember me? I'm the girl in the veil who stomped on your heart in front of your entire family!' Oh God and now I'm gonna have to return the ring, without the ring, which makes it so much harder..."

"Easy Liv, we'll find it. Won't we!" Sophia said.

"Oh! Yeah!" said Paul and Ian.

"Alright, when did you have it on last?" Paul asked.

"Doy! Probably right before she lost it!" Candice answered.

"You don't get a lot of 'doy' these days," said Ian.

"I know I had it this morning, and I know I had it when I was in the kitchen with…"

"Dinah?" Ian suggested. Olivia looked at the lasagna and realized something.

"Oh, don't be mad."

"You didn't," Sophia groaned.

"Oh, I am so sorry."

"I gave you one job!" said Sophia as she started to examine the lasagna through the bottom of the glass pan.

"Oh, but look how straight those noodles are!"

"Honey, you know that's not how you look for an engagement ring in lasagna," Ian said.

"I just... can't do it," Sophia sighed, placing the lasagna on the table. Ian, Paul, and Candice began to pick through the lasagna as Sophia heard a knock at the door.

"Hi," said Derek depressed when Sophia opened the door.

"Wow. That is not a happy hi."

"Claudia's pregnant."

"Ooh! I found it!" said Candice pulling at the ring while everyone else looked at Derek stunned.

"W-w-wh-...wha-...w-w-w-..." Sophia stuttered.

"Yeah. Do that for another two hours and you might be where I am right about now," said Derek, entering the house.

"Kinda puts that whole pillow thing in perspective, huh, Soph?" Ian asked.

"Well now, how do you fit into this whole thing?" Olivia asked.

"Well, Claudia says she and Sarah want me to be involved, but if I'm not comfortable with it, I don't have to be involved.. basically it's entirely up to me."

"She is so great! I miss her," said Candice.

"What does she mean by 'involved'?" Sophia asked.

"I mean presumably, the biggest part of your job is done," Paul added.

"They want me to go down to this sonogram thing with them tomorrow."

"So what are you gonna do?" Olivia asked.

"I have no idea. No matter what I do, though, I'm still gonna be a father." Everyone heard a clicking noise from the kitchen and saw Paul eating the lasagna.

"Well, this is still ruined, right?"

That night, Ian was pouring wine for Sophia's mom while Sophia passed out appetizers to her brother and parents.

"What's that curry taste?" Shelly grimaced.

"Curry," said Sophie.

"Mmmm!"

"I think they're great! I really do," said Derek, eating the snack. Sophia's mouth dropped as Shelly fluffed the same pillow she had fluffed multiple times earlier.

"Ian, Derek, could you come and help me with the spaghetti, please?" Sophia asked. They walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, we're having spaghetti! That's...easy. You know what you two need. Children," said Shelly.

"Just relax," said Ian, noticing Sophia's tense shoulders.

"I know this is going to sound unbelievably selfish, but, were you planning on bringing up the whole baby/lesbian thing?" Sophia asked Derek. "Because I think it might take some of the heat off me."

"I know your mother scolds you on your stubbornness and lack of grandchildren, dear, but don't let it get to you," said Jack as they all sat at the table and began to eat. "You're an independent woman, and you always have been! Even when you were a kid... and you were chubby, and you had no friends, you were just fine! And you would read alone in your room, and your puzzles." Sophia's smile faded as he went on. Ian tried to contain his laughter. Sophia noticed and hit him on the leg. "Look, there are people like Derek who need to shoot for the stars, with his museum, and his papers getting published. Other people are satisfied with staying where they are I'm telling you, these are the people who never get cancer. They're happy with what they have. They're basically content. Like cows." Ian choked on his wine as Sophia's leg began to shake under the table, a clear sign she was beginning to lose her temper

"Cows, Dad?" Derek asked.

"She knows how much I love cows. I've read about these women trying to have it all, and I thank God 'Our Little Sophie' doesn't seem to have that problem. You're going to be fine, sweetie. And I'm so proud of you and all you've accomplished."

"Thank you, Daddy. So, Derek, what's going on with you? Any stories?" Sophia asked as she dug her elbow into Derek's hand. "No news, no little anecdotes to share with the folks?"

"Okay! Okay."

"This'll be good," Ian whispered to Sophia.

"Look, Mom, Dad, I, uh I realize you guys have been wondering what exactly happened between Claudia and me, and, so, well, here's the deal. Claudia's a lesbian. She's living with a woman named Sarah. She's pregnant with my child, and she and Sarah are going to raise the baby.

"And you knew about this?" Shelly asked her daughter. Sophia banged her head on the table while Ian rubbed her back.

The following day, Ian and Sophia were finally at Comic Con in San Diego. Their director, Marcos, had been chosen to moderate the panel.

"I think they may have made a mistake asking me to do this because it's like interviewing family," said Marcos as the panel started. "I just know too much. I'm afraid we may spill some dirty laundry, but in preparing for this, I went back to my script for the season finale and looked at it. So we've seen the return of Katherine. Sophia, Ian, are their more troubles ahead for Emma and Damon?"

"Well, they're trying to figure it out. Go day by day and Emma's definitely behind Damon 100%," Sophia answered.

"110%," Ian corrected.

"120%," Sophia added.

"Such a good girl," Ian said, patting Sophia's arm.

"So they're going to keep the romance up?"

"If they are, they're going to have to write it. We hate each other," Ian answered.

"What?" Sophia asked.

"I'm joking. I talked to Kevin the other day and they have a pretty good idea of what they want to do up to the second half of that season. And there's some cool stuff."

"Do you think Stefan or Katherine is going to be more of a threat to Emma and Damon's relationship?"

"Probably both," Ian answered.

"We don't know exactly because they're still writing the scripts, but it could be a little bit of both," Sophia elaborated.

"If Damon and Stefan had gotten into it when Stefan was on human blood who would have won?"

"He'd kick my ass," Ian admitted.

"I wasn't thinking you were going to say that," Paul said.

"I think 145 years of repression would just explode. If that ever happens, Damon is definitely screwed."

"I think Emma would kick both of your asses," Sophia interjected.

"Emma would kick the crap out of both of them. But she's like a thousand years old," Ian explained.

"So is Alaric going to get some with Jenna?" Marcos asked as the crowd laughed.

"Well, Julie and I go around the table and ask who needs to take their clothes off next," said Kevin as the crowd yelled "Ian!"

"I take my clothes off all the time. What are you talking about?"

"It's not that impressive. Trust me," Marcos said as the crowd cheered.

"He's seen."

"We've all seen it," said Kevin to Ian.

"Is Damon going to get some more with Emma, Kevin?"

"You know what. I'm not going to say," Kevin answered.

"Is Damon going to get some with Katherine thinking it's Emma?"

"You know this little switcheroo thing is kind of interesting. Damon always has that excuse 'I thought it was, Emma. I didn't know.' But Emma's too wise for Damon to fool so she'd probably slap him around a bit," Ian answered.

"Are we going to start seeing Stefan accept his vampire side more?"

"Stefan's going to start to accept himself for who he is," Kevin answered.

"Finally!" Ian yelled.

"Will he become Damon-esque?" Paul asked.

"I'm not saying."

"You wish. I'll teach you, Paul."

"Thanks, buddy. Dye my hair jet black."

"Now Ian, you don't like playing nice Damon."

"Nice Damon freaks me out. It's so counter-intuitive."

"Cause you're such a dick," Matt interjected.

"I am. I have so much respect for Paul and Matt because they have a lot of weight on their shoulders at all times in most of these scenes and I sort of breeze in and screw around."

"Speaking of scenes, Damon gets a lot of fun scenes. What was your most memorable scene?"

"I think one of the most fun scenes was in Under Control where Emma and I are dancing and Uncle John interrupts the moment and Damon ends up snapping his neck. David Anders is just a joy to work with."

"Julie, who has the best hair?"

"Paul Wesley."

"Kevin, who has the best abs?"

"I'm going to go with Paul."

"Yeah. I'm too lazy. I like food way too much," Ian added.

"Paul's abs…"

"They sing."

"They're their own conversation."

"So Sophia, better kisser. Paul or Ian?" The crowd cheered and Sophia started to blush as Ian moved closer to his wife.

"He's getting closer. Get your hand off my leg, Paul!"

"Give her an option C," Stephen McQueen interjected.

"Here you can have my Hershey's Kisses."

"Paul, always gives me kisses."

"Answer the question. People want to know," Ian said.

"Girl doesn't kiss and tell. Besides, I'm risking sleeping on the couch for the next month already."

"Ian, Katherine or Emma?" Marcos asked.

"Why not both?" Everyone laughed. "That would be cool!"

"That'd be a lot of work," Sophia said.

"So! You like a challenge…especially in bed," Ian said and the crowd cheered.

"Sophia, what was your favorite scene?"

"The scene where I threaten Isobel. That was fun."

"If each of you could compel Julie and Kevin to do something different with your character, what would it be? Steven."

"I would like Jeremy to become involved with fighting, have a little more edge to him."

"Matt."

"I would compel Kevin and Julie to allow Alaric and Jenna to have filthy, dirty sex."

"I knew he was going to say that," Ian added.

"Paul."

"I think Stefan should join a traveling circus. No, I want to see Stefan get a little more vicious."

"I know after we did the Pilot I asked you who you thought Stefan was and you had this idea he was a loner and stuck in a closet," said Marcos.

"Wait, did you say Stefan's in the closet?"

"Admit it. Come out of the closet," said Matt.

"I'm not touching that one," said Ian as Kevin whispered something to Ian. He immediately laughed.

"What?" Paul asked.

"Kevin said 'Marcos, thanks for ruining the big twist.'"

"We're having too much fun," Sophia said.

"I would really love to do a flashback of Stefan in the 80s dancing to really bad music," Paul said.

"Sophia."

"I would like to see Emma take on Katherine."

"I love a good cat fight," Ian added.

"Ian."

"I would like to do a flashback with Damon in the 60s like at a Rolling Stones concert. That would be pretty cool."

"And there they are, folks. The cast of the Vampire Diaries. Make sure to check out the season two premiere this September."


	13. For Your Entertainment

The last five months had gone by in a flash with filming the rest of season two of the Vampire Diaries along with all the promotional work for season three. Production for Season Three of the Vampire Diaries had already begun so Sophia and Ian along with the rest of the cast were at Comic Con 2011 in San Diego.

"So Ian," said the mediator from TV Guide, "is Damon going to be actively looking for Stefan now?"

"Don't lie, man," said Paul.

"Well, I had a really great conversation with Kevin. Damon's not too happy about the way life's worked out for him at this point. His brother who has the hots for his girl is hanging out with a guy Damon hates."

"Damon at this point is pretty frustrated and conflicted. Does he stay with his wife or go after his brother? And it's going to kind of blow up in his face," Kevin elaborated.

"Great," Ian drawled.

"Happy birthday, Paul," said the mediator as the crowd began to sing him happy birthday.

"Thank you. I've never liked birthdays. I feel like it always brings too much attention and now I have five thousand people singing happy birthday. It's like the epitome of that."

"Shouldn't have been an actor, Paul," Ian said.

"How dark is it going to get for Stefan?"

"The light switches. That's a bad joke."

"Good thing Stefan's not funny," Ian added.

"I don't know. It's really going to be up to the writers, but I'm very excited to explore ripper Stefan."

"That is a great excuse for you to say ripper, Joseph," said the mediator.

"Come on. Say it," Ian urged.

"Rippah."

"That never gets old. Look, he's blushing!" Sophia laughed.

"So Joseph why does Klaus want Stefan so bad?"

"Well, if you tune in in September…"

"Could you rephrase that question?" Ian joked.

"Are you implying something?" Joseph asked. "I think we're going to find out more about Klaus' history and motives. But I don't want to spoil anything."

"We don't want spoilers, do we?" asked the mediator as the crowd yelled. "It's not like your bosses are sitting right next to you or anything."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Joseph laughed.

"So, Joseph, what has been one of the best parts of working on The Vampire Diaries?" the mediator asked.

"I think letting my parents see some of the success I've had and take them outside Europe. I was able to bring them to Atlanta to visit the sets for a very short time."

"I didn't get to meet your parents," Ian said.

"Well, they have to come back then."

"I'm learning all these things. He doesn't message me back. I don't meet the parents."

"Let's make this clear. I really like you. Ian was great from the first day I got on the set of Vampire Diaries. We met once before at a party. He and Sophia."

"Yeah, you flirted with my wife, man. No, I'm just kidding."

"They all greeted me with open arms when I came."

"We were all a little nervous. We're like 'Klaus, is he going to kill us?'" Sophia said.

"It was a little strange in the beginning," Joseph agreed.

"It was like when guys trade cigarettes in jail," said Ian.

"That's what I've been trying to do since I came back. What do you know about season three? Come on, man. Hook me up."

"What have been some of the craziest things that have happened to you on set, Joseph?" the mediator asked.

"I'm trying to think of something that didn't involve Ian," Joseph answered after a pause.

"We play a lot of pranks," said Sophia.

"We're wildly inappropriate. If there was ever a human resources person on set, they wouldn't get it and we'd all be in jail. I actually had my birthday cake delivered to me when I was naked in a bubble bath. It's like eleven o'clock at night. I've been naked for four hours. I'm so pruny, but I'm with my naked, beautiful wife so it could be worse."

"Best birthday ever," Joseph smirked.

"They turn all the lights out all of sudden. Now mind you I've just taken a bite out of her neck. I have blood all over my face. I'm in a bubble bath. I don't have any pants on and now I have my birthday cake. This was Sophie's joke by the way. So what do I do? I stand up. And there are crew members everywhere!"

"Why am I not surprised!"

"Well, I'm naked all the time. It's so uncomfortable."

"The trouble they go to to make him wear clothes. For God's sake, put some clothes on!"

"I'm very open. What about you, man?"

"There's so many funny things that happen on set especially involving Ian and Sophie."

"You know she fell asleep on set once."

"Oh yeah!" Sophia said. "When we were doing the As I Lay Dying episode, I laid down on the floor for three scenes. I got this little foam pillow for my head.

"She just slept it off. And I woke her up and she said you know, I didn't read the whole episode. I just thought I'd listen to it with my eyes closed," Joseph laughed.

"Sophia, you actually are playing two roles. The role of Emma and then Katherine. And you've given her a bit of an edge that Emma doesn't really have. How do you make that transition?"

"She becomes a raging bitch one day," Ian blurted out.

"Sorry, what was that?" Sophia asked, an eyebrow cocked.

"Oops. Did I say that out loud?"

"You see what I have to live with, ladies?" Sophia laughed. "Um, I feel like Katherine can get away with a lot more on set. She can do things that Emma wouldn't really do."

"So where did Katherine go at the end of the season?"

"Yeah, isn't she like in the Caribbean?" Ian asked Julie.

"Katherine is in Hawaii waiting for the very special Hawaii vacation episode."

"We need to do a beach episode," Sophia moaned.

"When you live in oscillating cold and hot weather, why not have a little island excursion with a couple cast members? Emma, Katherine. You know what I'm saying," Ian suggested.

"Candice, what's in store for you and Tyler?"

"Puppies. Vampire puppies," Ian said.

"Comes out looking like Michael Trevino," Paul added.

"I don't know. That's one of the things that we'll see in season three," Candice answered, shaking her head at the two boys.

"What about Matt?"

"That guy needs some action," Ian said.

"Ian, did you read this?" Paul asked as he read the message behind his name card, "Please be aware that members of your audience may be under eighteen years of age."

"Are you kidding? Kids date in sixth grade. Am I crazy?"

"No! You're hot!" one of the audience members yelled.

"Don't tell him that! It's bad for his ego!" Sophia laughed.

"If you could play any other character on the show who would it be and why?"

"I would like to play Damon because of all the attention he's getting. I mean it looks like it's a lot of fun," Joseph said.

"It can be. It most certainly can be."

"I would want to be Klaus and I know girl, doesn't make any sense, but he gets to do some pretty crazy stuff," said Sophia.

"Paul and I would both be Klaus," said Ian.

"I want to be Klaus with a really bad accent."

"He can slay you with words and witty charm."

"I like being Caroline," Candice answered.

"Kevin's like good answer," Paul joked.

"Never mind. I don't want to be Klaus. I want to be Caroline," said Ian.

"I have a question for Kevin and Julie. What character would you be?" Sophia asked.

"Elijah," Julie answered immediately and the cast laughed.

"Julie is in love with Daniel Gillies," Ian said.

"I want to take half and half of these two and squish them together," said Kevin, pointing to Paul and Ian.

"That would be awkward," Ian joked.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentleman. The cast of the Vampire Diaries. Make sure to check out season three this September on the CW."


	14. In Between The Lines

After the premiere of All My Children, the cast of the Vampire Diaries attended Paleyfest 2012 in New York City.

"Let's talk a little bit about the Originals. Have we seen the last of them?" the TV Guide mediator asked.

"No," Julie answered.

"It's why all of us constantly live on the precipice of death," Ian added.

"Candice, is Klaus still, you know…"

"Hanging around? It's funny. Because everyone's so excited about this Klaroline, but Klaus is bad. He's a mass murderer. His hobbies are creating hybrids to murder people. That is a terrible match dot com profile. I mean what? You're going to call your mom and say hey, I met this great guy. He likes to murder people, but other than that he's a real charmer."

"Do you think Klaus has a match dot com profile?" Paul asked.

"Klaus actually owns match dot com. He started it," Ian joked.

"It'd be great for season four if we just had a random segue way."

"I just like that their whole relationship is based off of manipulation on both of their parts," Candice said.

"Aren't all relationships based on manipulation?" Ian asked.

"Maybe yours," Candice scoffed.

"Especially mine and yours, buddy," said Paul.

"That was a definitive joke! I love my wife," said Ian as he looked at Sophie. "Help me!"

"You dug your grave. Now you have to lay in it. Speaking of Originals, Damon and Rebekah." Everyone in the room realized Sophia was looking at Ian with a big smirk on her face and they laughed hysterically. "Revenge is sweet, my dear."

"Oh! She's cheeky, this one."

"It's like she's reading my cards. Let's talk about Rebekah then."

"Let's not."

"I saw this picture online where she was torturing you. What's going on with Rebekah?"

"It's like every woman in my life," Ian answered, looking at Sophia. Everyone laughed as she shook her head.

"I'm not touching that one."

"There's nothing better than being hung from the ceiling, tortured, whipped, bleeding…by another woman."

"They have no idea what you're talking about. They're like why is he being hung?" Paul said.

"We were shooting in Evander Holyfield's house, which is forty-five times the size of this room. It has a ballroom, a bowling alley. Hey, one of the coolest things is to show up for work and Evander Holyfield's there. That is just awesome."

"Actually, it's not because if you step on the carpet, he knocks you out," Paul added.

"That scene or particular image is one where there's an amazing bonding moment for Emma and Damon by virtue of the fact that some pretty gnarly stuff goes on. These Originals have an appetite for destruction and they act on."

"But they have a soft side. Elijah. He's so cute," Paul said.

"Klaus draws pictures of horses," Candice added.

"And, nice touch, Klaus grows…orchids," Ian said.

"Did you read that on his match dot com profile?" the mediator asked.

"No, I was in his apartment for a dinner party…and then I found out on match dot com."

"Damon does something really crappy to Rebekah in the next episode and she gets mad and decides to rip him apart and stab him up and make him bleed," Julie said. "Hell hath no fury…"

"Like a woman scorned. Boys, let me tell you…" Ian looked at Sophia and nodded to the audience, pointing to himself. "I know."

"Especially after this panel."

"Well, he knows I'll forgive him if he gives me a massage. He has magic hands," Sophia said.

"Julie, what about Esther and the rest of the clan? Will we see them coming back?"

"Um, yes. Maybe. We haven't seen the last of the Originals or the mother's plan to try and take out her children. There's still a whole other chapter of that story to tell."

"It's like instead of the Brothers Grimm, the Mothers Grimm," Ian joked. After a pause, everyone laughed.

"Where do you come up with this?" Paul asked.

"I don't know."

"Are there notecards back there?" Candice asked.

"Instead of the brothers grimm it's the mothers grimm," Paul imitated.

"Do you see what I have to deal with on a daily frickin' basis?" Ian asked.

"No, do you see what I have to deal with!"

"I feel a need for an intervention down there."

"Please," Ian begged.

"No, let it go," Matt Davis laughed.

"Boys, boys," Julie chided.

"See we're always in between an amazing woman…that wants to kill us." Ian joked.

"Sophia, Emma has developed a bit of a soft side for Elijah. Why is that?"

"Because he's so pretty," Ian said.

"Daniel isn't bad looking. Listen, Elijah and Emma have a history. They were lovers. They have the same morals for the most part and they share this bond."

"You just want to make out with, Daniel. Just admit it," Ian said.

"I think Elijah would have to get in line behind Alaric," Julie said.

"Thank you," Matt blurted out. Everyone laughed.

"By the way, I do not advocate this whatsoever, but Matt Davis has taken to Twitter to begin the Alaric/Emma campaign. Which is totally unacceptable," said Julie.

"And inappropriate," Sophia added.

"But yet fantastic! And when the ratings slip! Elijah, Damon," Paul joked as everyone laughed.

"What'd he say?" Sophia asked.

"Who's bad? I'm bad," Paul imitated.

"Oh no. Paul has left the building, ladies and gentlemen," Ian said.

"Let's talk about this fanfiction of yours, Matt."

"Oh no. Oh God no," Matt said.

"I won't talk about this. It's totally inappropriate," said Julie.

"What's your favorite one?"

"I have two if we're being honest about it. There's one I won't mention because it's R-rated, but the other one is…there's a moment where Alaric is talking to Damon. This was written by Matt Davis by the way."

"Literally on an iPhone while we're doing a scene," Ian interjected.

"It's about why Emma loves Damon and he basically just tells Damon to give her some breathing room. She's been through hell and back and she needs to find herself. It's nice. It's not going to happen this season, but it's nice. Who's your muse, Matt?"

"Right now it's been Tyler. I've enjoyed making him do some twisted things."

"Can I get that Ernesto Riley sign back please?" Ian asked, trying to take a picture with his iPhone. "So we can spoon feed Ernesto Riley because he really is awesome."

"You'll never get that on the iPhone. The zoom is…" Paul criticized.

"You know what, Paul. Never underestimate the power of the iPhone."

"Cash, cash from Apple. Endorsement right there," Paul muttered.

"I wish. Apple doesn't endorse anyone."

"Wow. I'm a little hot," Katerina Graham blurted out.

"Yeah, you are!" Sophia said as Ian took his jacket off.

"Ian, you can't do that in public," Katerina chastised.

"Well, this one is freezing and you're on fire," said Ian as he put his jacket around Sophia's arms.

"No, I mean my mic is hot. Sorry."

"Alright, Paul here," Ian said as he started to unbutton his shirt. "Oh wait. Sorry, Paul. I forgot. We're not at home." The crowd laughed hysterically.

"So Paul how much fun was it having your wife on the cast this season? How'd she get the part?"

"How'd she get the part? Julie, how'd she get the part?"

"I don't kiss and tell."

"Well, I mean she had to audition and Julie's a fan of Pretty Little Liars. So you know it just kind of worked out."

"Two words. Casting. Couch," Ian muttered. Everyone laughed except Paul. "No. She's amazing. By the way…"

"I'm sorry, but it's true," said Julie to Paul. "Casting couch."

"I don't know what that means," Paul said

"Come on, Paul!" Ian exclaimed. "How long have you been in Hollywood! You've never heard of a casting couch?"

"No, what is that?" The audience was in hysterics at this point. "Or do you want to show me later?"

"You know what, buddy, if you don't know what that is, then I will show you anytime."

"How do you deal with these two, Sophia?" the mediator asked.

"Nerves of steel and the occasional shot of tequila."

"Matt got to run with Torrey a little more than you did, Paul," the mediator said.

"What's going on here?" Paul asked.

"I've done scenes with her and she's amazing. Better than Paul actually," said Ian.

"Where do you think I learned my moves?"

"Exactly."

"How do I turn? Do I turn to the left or the right?"

"You learned it from Torrey. Now I say this because it's very difficult to embarrass Matt Davis, but I'm going to go out on a limb. There was this love interest that was coming for Alaric and Matt was psyched. He was like yeah this is going to be really cool, man. Alaric's just going to get some. It's going to be really cool. And it shows up that it's his buddy's wife. Then all of a sudden Matt Davis is horrified."

"He's horrified? Forget him!" Paul said.

"Matt comes to me and he says what if I have to make out with her? And I said well, you just got to go for it."

"Okay, this conversation is over," Paul interrupted as Ian laughed. "Ridiculous. Moving on."

"Julie, would you agree that the show isn't just the story of Damon and Emma, but also the relationship between Damon and Stefan."

"Of course."

"We're like soulmates," said Paul with a lisp.

"They are soulmates," Ian confirmed.

"The next episode is really a showcase for Team Salvatore as I like to call it," said Julie. Ian and Paul gave each other a high-five.

"Team Salvatore. Ring power," Paul joked.

"You know I tried to bring my ring from props for you guys, but they caught me. I did it for People's Choice," Ian said.

"Did you give one away?" Julie asked.

"No, no, no. I brought it with me."

"Oh my God."

"That was such a genuine reaction," Sophia said.

"As my boss, no, I did not give it away, but I did take it from set one day."

"It's the weirdest thing. We only have one of those rings," Paul said.

"Shut up, Paul."

"You'd think we'd have multiples."

"Those are really nicely made rings," Julie defended.

"When the show's over…"

"They're going to me."

"Not the guys who wore them for six years, the woman that wrote about them for six years," Ian joked. "Now, I have a problem with Matt's ring. We walk around set all day and we share this love for each other and we bump wrists and fists, but these rings are big and cumbersome and they hurt and Matt Davis…my manicurist does not appreciate you."

"By the way, he's dead serious," Paul added.

"Sophia, how fun has it been to delve into the dark part of Emma's character?"

"I love it and in the next couple episodes, you're going to see what we've dubbed as the bloody side of Emma. She's really bad and I've had a blast with it."

"So Emma right at this moment has kind of cut ties with Damon. Are they going to repair their relationship by the end of the season?"

"Um, she has a choice to make," Julie answered.

"I would really like to know what that is," Ian said.

"Will everyone survive this season?"

"But then would anyone watch if she went back to Damon," said Paul.

"No one watches now," Ian said. The audience complained. "That was a joke!"

"Make it up to them. Take your shirt off," Candice joked. Everyone laughed.

"To answer your question, I don't know if everyone is going to survive this season," said Julie.

"Sophia, what has been your favorite plot twist this season?"

"Oh gosh. Every episode has so many." She starts to make a noise from Jeopardy and Ian imitates her. "You just ripped off my joke."

"Yeah, because you sounded like a cat meowing."

"Thanks. I love you too."

"I love you more."

"Well, the twist I really like is coming up in the next few episodes, but when Emma stabbed Rebekah in the back. That was fun."

"Yeah, that was good. She loved doing that," Ian said.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of the Vampire Diaries. Make sure to check out the new episodes next month."


	15. Act On Impulse

One month had passed since Paleyfest and Julie had given the cast a week off from work for a well-deserved break until the filming of the last three episodes.

"Babe, do you want your usual?" Sophia asked from the kitchen as Ian walked down the stairs. "Egg bacon sandwich with cheese?"

"Yeah. Double," Ian replied as he got on his laptop. "I'm trying to see your number. You have 29,720 followers on Twitter. "

"Well, I haven't put my picture up for today so that'll blast through."

"Don't tell that to someone who only has a thousand."

"Honey, I'm positive on my Twitter."

"No, you're not. You've got 27,000 people looking at your pictures because you look good in pictures. "

"My conversations are always positive."

"I'm positive."

"You're a little bit more hardcore."

"No, I'm not."

"Do you want mayonnaise or ketchup?"

"Mayonnaise. Paul just wrote I never thought I would say this, Ian, but you're a damn good actor. What the fuck's that mean?" Sophia tried to withhold her laughter just as she heard a knock at the door. She served Ian his breakfast and then went to the door. Shelly was waiting outside.

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

"What a mother can't stop by to pay her daughter a visit? I wanted to have a chat with you. Maybe we should go for a walk."

"Okay," Sophia replied warily. "Ian, my mom's here. We're going for a walk!"

"Okay. Try not to kill each other." Sophia shook her head and the two women left the house.

"You have some life here, sweetie," Shelly said after a moment.

"I know."

"I've never seen you this happy. I look at you and I think, oh, this is what I want."

"For…me."

"Well, not just for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm, uh, considering leaving your father."

"Oh god. Oh god," said Sophia as they approached a park bench. The younger King immediately sat down. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Honey, I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me."

"Mom, I thought you and Dad had worked everything out."

"Well, so did I. But you know how sometimes you're driving on the highway and you get home and you can't actually remember having driven there?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's kind of like what my life's been like."

"Well, couldn't you listen to the radio more?"

"I wish it was that easy. I just wanted you to know before you heard from anyone else."

Later, Ian and Sophia talked about the discussion she had with her mother at a coffee house they frequented.

"And then she drops this total bomb on me and calls a limo to pick her up. She didn't even offer me a ride home!"

"Your mom's quite the character. You talked to your dad about this yet?"

"No. Are you crazy! I don't even think he knows yet. What a mess." At that moment, Paul entered the restaurant.

"There you two are!" he said approaching them. "Do I look fat?"

Ian and Sophia looked at each other before responding to the strange question, "No."

"Okay, I accept that. When Torrey asked me and I said no, she took that to mean that I was calling her a cow."

"Okay, walk us through it, honey," Sophia said, confused.

"Okay, well. Torrey said 'Hi, do I look fat today?' And I, I looked at her..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You looked at her. You never look," said Ian. "You just answer, it's just a reflex. Do I look fat? Nooo! Is she prettier than I am? Noo! Does size matter?"

"Nooo!" Sophia replied.

"And it works both ways."

"Okay, so you both just know this stuff?" Paul asked.

"Well you know, after about thirty or forty fights, you kinda catch on," said Sophia.

"Okay, for instance. Let's say, Torrey is coming back from a trip and she gives you two options. Option number 1 she'll take a cab home from the airport. Option 2 is you can meet her at baggage claim. Which do you do?"

"That's easy, baggage claim."

"Wrong! It's actually secret option number three, you meet her at the gate. That way she knows you love her."

Later that day, all the cast had convened at Ian and Sophie's house for a barbeque. Ian and Paul were sitting on the couch when Candice entered with her date, Mark.

"Ian, Paul, this is Mark," Candice introduced.

"Isn't it a bit cold out for shorts?" Ian asked Mark.

"Well, I'm from California."

"Right, right. Sometimes you guys just burst into flames." Mark leaned back on the arm of the chair, allowing Ian to see up his shorts and see 'little Mark.' Ian was horrified by the view. "I'm up! I'm up, I've gotten up now! Anybody, ah, want anything?"

"A water would be nice," Candice said.

"Paul, why don't you come with me? Sophie wanted to ask you something."

"Okay." The two then walked into the kitchen. Paul could tell something was up with his best friend. "What's the matter with you? What's going on?"

"Mark's coming out."

"What, what do you mean? Is he gay?"

"No. He...he's coming out of his shorts."

"What?!"

"The man is showing brain."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Hold on." A few minutes later, Paul returned.

"Well?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

"What do we do? What do we do?"

"Well, I suppose we just try to not look directly at it."

"Like an eclipse."

Later that night, Matt was sitting on the couch with Ian while Mark sat in one of the armchairs. Mark put one of his legs up on the coffee table, exposing himself. In horror, Ian, slid over, leaning against Matt.

"What are you doing?" Matt asked. He pushed Ian back to his side of the couch and saw Mark in all he glory. "Hello! Hi, I'm Matt. We haven't met."

"Good to meet you. Mark. Mind if I use your bathroom?"

"Down the hall," Ian said. As Mark left, all the guys laughed as Candice joined them.

"What? You guys, what is going on? You not like Mark? Why are you laughing?"

"Calm down. There's no reason to get testy," Paul quipped. Ian and Matt laughed harder.

"You guys, come on!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it just seems that Mark isn't as concealed in the shorts area, as ah, one may have hoped," said Ian.

"What do you mean?" Candice asked as Mark approached the group.

"Hey Mark, could you ah, pass me those cookies?" Matt asked.

"Sure," Mark replied. He put his leg on the table and passed the plate to Matt. Candice saw what her friends were laughing at and gasped. In that moment, Sophie entered the room and saw the indecency.

"Excuse me! This is my grandmother's furniture. Put the mouse back in the house!" Sophia said before walking away to replenish everyone's drinks. Mark looked down and saw what she was talking about while the guys laughed. That was Sophie for you. Blunt and always to the point.


	16. Holding A Heart

A few months had passed since Jack's divorce from his wife, Shelly, and he was lounging on the couch of his apartment in Atlanta where he had recently moved. When he turned the TV on, he was surprised to see a special on TV detailing the life of his daughter.

"A model turned actress Sophia King has taken Hollywood by storm, becoming one of its most mesmerizing stars. Her onscreen success has often been overshadowed by an obsession with her personal life," said the narrator.

"It's almost like you have another career. It's like being on a soap opera that exists on these stupid magazines," said Sophia on screen.

"But Sophia has proven that she's a strong woman who refuses to let the press define her. In 2008, Sophia King gave an interview where she spoke up about her views on single women being mothers. Fox News correspondent Bill O'Reilly slammed the actress for her non-traditional views."

"She's throwing a message out to twelve year olds that 'hey! You don't need a guy! You don't need a dad!'"

"While King usually keeps quiet when it comes to negative press, she decided to fight back. In a widely circulated People magazine article, King said 'Many women dream of finding their Prince Charming. For those who've not yet found their Bill O'Reilly, I'm just glad science has provided a few other options.'"

"That's my girl!" Jack yelled.

"People say things about me all the time and you usually just go oh, whatever, but this wasn't just about me. It was insulting to women who were doing this out on their own. I just felt it needed…it was begging for a response. It was just such an unfair statement that he made against me," said Sophia on a talk show.

"This determination has always been a part of Sophia's strong spirit. Born in Aiken, South Carolina in January 1978 to real estate moguls, Jack and Shelly King, Sophia has always been determined and totally fearless and became a realist at a young age. She had a brother that was six years older then she was who she always described as her protector. After a Seventeen magazine cover spread, she was invited by a scout to the runways of New York. She was a sensation. She was immediately admired for her grace. She booked 25 shows which was practically unprecedented. Unlike her peers, she didn't drink or smoke and she avoided the party scene."

"She is the very definition of common sense so she's not going to do anything that ten years later might have horrible ramifications," said Sophia's agent, Frank. "Later on in her modeling, she started to get a fuller bust, bigger hips and the designers would say to her oh no, no the hips are too wide so that was when she entered the world of commercial modeling."

"In 1998, Sophia won a lucrative contract with Covergirl."

"The Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and then being a Covergirl and then eventually Victoria's Secret. She really brought this sense of the girl next door, kind of like Cindy Crawford," said Frank.

"She's very frugal," said Ian on screen. "Like she'll buy all her clothes for the year dirt cheap in one shopping spree. Of course when she goes on the red carpet, a stylist will put her in a $50,000 gown that the designer lends her, but she's not going to go buy one. She's very frugal in a good way. She's like why do I need to go buy a Ferrari? It's not who she is. What she likes and what she does spend her money on are not the fancy things in life. Sophie learned early on that it doesn't make sense to just spend money willy nilly. People need it and if you have it, you should always tuck a little bit of it away for a rainy day."

"Early on in her career, Sophia was making a list of what she needed to do. Beauty does not last forever. She had a plan B and that plan was acting. After four years of modeling in New York, Sophia headed out west to pursue her dreams of acting stardom," said the narrator.

"Film became like my passion. I loved to do it and I was obsessed with it," said Sophia.

"By 2008, Sophia had played a lead role in six films. Erin Brokovich, Chicago, Cold Mountain, Million Dollar Baby, The Devil Wears Prada, and Quantum of Solace. On top of that, she won three Critic's Choice Awards, three Golden Globes, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, 2 BAFTA Awards, and three Academy Awards. An astonishing accomplishment for a woman of her age. Fame, however, made Sophia a tabloid target. In 2001, Sophia's rough relationship with her mother became even more strained when Shelly released details about Sophia in a tell all memoir."

"She put out a book that had all these baby photos and really revealed a lot about Sophia's childhood. She stopped talking to her mother for years after that because she was angry with her going public with all this information," said Selma Blair, a close friend. "That really hurt her. Sophia's a private person. She has her work life and her home life and she didn't really want the press to know about things that were very personal to her."

"In the spring of 2002, King started dating Ian Somerhalder. Ian and Sophia had known each other from their modeling days and they had been dating other people."

"When they were both single, their managers actually both decided to set them up," said Renee Zellweger, another close friend of Sophia's. "He invited her over to his place and they just hung out. They didn't want the paparazzi following them so they definitely stayed low key on that first date."

"After seven years of dating, the Hollywood couple tied the knot in a small ceremony in Sophia's hometown. During that time, Sophia and Ian's reputation grew even further due to the success of the cult hit 'The Vampire Diaries.' In an exclusive interview with the couple, Ian and Sophia had this to say about the show in the upcoming season four and their relationship."

"Damon and Stefan are now closer than they've ever been and due to that fact what makes it really interesting is that the next thing that comes in between them I think as close as they are may separate them farther apart," said Ian. "I do know that there's a lot of cool stuff coming up."

"It seems that Damon has returned to his old ways again," said an interviewer.

"I think there is a definite air of that in this season. Julie put it simply to me. He tried everything. He tried to help, no one listened to him, and everything went to shit. So now he's basically saying I tried, I did everything I could, none of you listened to me, screw you."

"Will Damon help Emma during her transition?"

"Damon is definitely key to her having a successful transition," said Sophia. "The last time Emma transitioned, it was rough. It turned her into a ripper. And he wants to help her not be a ripper, but at the same time he doesn't want her to deny her nature. This season is going to be a real emotional one for Damon and Emma. It's really going to push them to their limits. It's pushed Ian and I to our limits. We just finished wrapping up one scene that actually took us longer than normal because it was so emotionally draining and it just felt so real between the two of us."

"Will Damon continue to be mad at Stefan for not saving Emma?"

"It really was not the best decision," said Ian. "And even from a story point, we as the actors said wait, what? Really? He's just going to save Matt? It didn't make any sense. It really doesn't make sense to Damon and he's very angry about it."

"What are your two's most annoying habits?"

"What's my annoying habit? I can't wait to hear this because I don't have any," Ian laughed.

"Well, I've got actually a couple, but I'm just going to narrow it down," Sophia smiled.

"What! A couple!"

"At night, you bring a cup of ice with milk in it. By the next morning, that ice has melted with the milk in it that you haven't drank and you put all this shit in the cup. Napkins…"

"When I get up in the morning, I stuff the napkins and everything neatly into the cup."

"Neatly in the cup but it soaks up all that nasty milk and it's really disgusting."

"What's your worst habit? Light. This girl has to sleep and it has to be darker than Dracula. It has to be Vegas black. It has to be so dark in the room that you can't see an inch in front of your face."

"I have thin eyelids," Sophia defended.

"Your problem with me is during the night and my problem with you is during the night so the rest of the day is no problem," Ian joked.

"How do you two handle your status as celebrities?"

"One thing people don't get is that when you use the word celebrity or whatever is that we're not normal. It's like we'll be out shopping and somebody goes 'wow, you're walking,'" said Ian.

"Yeah, we usually float," said Sophia sarcastically.

"I'll fly private if you want to pay for it, but I'm not spending my money. Are you crazy? We don't have servants."

"I like to do my own laundry, my own dusting."

"Don't believe the hype. We're not much different from you."

"If you had to say one thing about Sophia, what would it be, Ian?"

"I'd say that I love her with all my heart and I don't know one person who doesn't want to work with this amazing woman." Jack turned off the TV, smiling. He was so happy and proud of his daughter.

At craft service on set, the cast was having breakfast before they all headed to work. Torrey was blinking her eye as if it was bothering her.

"What's going on?" Paul asked his wife.

"Well, my eye is a little itchy."

"Wow! It's really red! You should go see my eye doctor," said Sophia, looking at Torrey's eye.

"I'm not going to an eye doctor!"

"Oh God, here we go," Paul groaned.

"What?" Ian asked.

"Anytime anything comes close to touching her eye or anyone else's she like freaks out. Watch! Watch!" Paul moved his finger closer to his eye.

"Paul! Come on!" Torrey flinched. "All right! Fine-Okay, I have a weird thing about my eye. Can we not talk about it please?"

"All right, fine," everyone said.

"Hey Tor, remember that great song, Me, Myself, and I?" Sophia asked as she mimicked poking her eye.

"Sophie! Come on!" Torrey flinched.

"How much did I love The King and I?" Ian asked, pretending to poke his eye

"Ian! Just stop it! Come on!" Everyone laughed as Derek, Sophia's brother, walked on set.

"Hey, bro," said Sophia, hugging her brother.

"Hey. Thought I'd pay you a visit. WOW!" Derek said, getting a look at Sophie's legs.

"Hey! Stop staring at my wife's legs! No no! Stop staring at your sister's legs!" Ian said.

"I'm sorry, it's just... how did you get so tan?"

"She went to one of those spray-on tan places." Sophia looked at Ian as the rest of the cast began to chuckle.

"That was supposed to be a secret, Ian," Sophia muttered.

"Did I say spray-on tan places? I meant surf contest. Which she won."

"You got a spray-on tan?" Derek asked.

"Ian gets pedicures!"

"Like with the-the toe separators?" Derek laughed.

"Why…why?" Ian asked Sophia.

"Still, I can't believe that's sprayed on... I mean, it looks really good. I wonder if I should get one," said Derek.

"Sure, then you should get a mini skirt so you can really show it off."

"So, do you get colors or just French tips?"

"Here's their card," said Sophia, handing her brother a card out of her purse.

"Thanks. Hey, I know where this place is! It used to be an X-rated video..." Derek paused after realizing what he was about to say. "Florist."

After work, Sophia was putting dinner on the table when Derek walked through the front door, looking very tanned. Ian and Sophia tried to hold back their laughter.

"Hi," said Derek, depressed.

"Oh dear God," Sophia muttered.

"Hold on! There is something different," said Ian.

"I went to that tanning place your wife suggested."

"Was that place... The Sun?" Ian asked.

"Oh! And it gets worse!" Derek turned to his side and pulled his shirt up. There was a distinct line across his body where his belly was very tanned and his back was very pale. Sophia laughed.

"Oh My God! You can do a duet of Ebony and Ivory all by yourself!" Ian said.

"How could you mess this up?" Sophia asked? "It's so easy? You go into the booth, you count to five and you turn around!"

"How do you count to five?"

"One Two Three..."

"Damnit!" Derek went to the door to leave just as Candice entered. She saw him and began to laugh. "I know!"

"Oh, what is up with Miss Hawaiian Tropic?"

The following day after messing up at the tanning salon again, Derek was at his apartment reading a magazine when Ian knocked on the door.

"Dude, it's Ian. Let me in."

"Go away! I don't want to see anybody."

"I know, I went to the tanning place and the same thing happened to me. You have to let me in."

"Really? Did you count Mississipily?" Derek opened the door. "Dude, you're not tanned."

"No, I just had to get a picture of this." Ian held up a camera and took Derek's picture. "See you later!"


	17. Moves Like Jagger

"Hey, Kat. What's up?" Sophia asked as she walked on set. It was getting near the holidays which meant hiatus! Finally, a break from work.

"Hey, Soph. You look beautiful."

"You too. I'm looking for Ian. Where's Ian?"

"Um, last time I saw him on set he was with some hot brunette. Oh wait! That was you."

"Ha! You got me!"

"He's at craft service." Sophia nodded and walked into the on-set cafeteria.

"There you are. What's going on?" Sophia asked.

"I was just getting a bite and then we're done."

"Cool. My brother's coming for dinner tonight."

"Okay. Everyone's coming over. They want to see your mom on TV tonight."

"Seriously?" Sophia groaned. Ian nodded. "Fine. Let me go find a hole to curl up and die in."

"She's not that bad."

That night, Sophia was cleaning the dishes from dinner, her brother assisting her as Ian watched their banter.

"I believe it," said Sophia.

"No you don't," Derek replied.

"Yes, I do."

"No you d—y'know what, you're not gonna suck me into this."

"Oh sure I am, because you always have to be right."

"I do not always have to be—okay, okay."

"Jurassic Park could happen," Sophia mocked as Derek began to walk toward living room. "And you know what, actually I do think Kirk was smarter than Spock." Derek was about to say something, but he just smiled and sat down on the couch with Paul and Torrey.

"You were kidding about the Kirk Spock thing, right?" Ian asked. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Oh, she's coming up! She's coming up!" said Torrey.

"Folks, when we come back we'll be talking about her new book, 'Euphoria Unbound': the always interesting Shelly King. You might wanna put the kids to bed for this one," said Jay Leno on TV.

"Y'know, we don't have to watch this. True Blood is on HBO," said Sophia.

"No way, forget it," said Torrey.

"C'mon, she's your mom!" Paul added.

"Exactly," Sophia relied.

"C'mon, Sophia, I love your mom. I think she's a blast," said Joseph.

"You can say that because she's not your mom."

"Now what is this about you-you being arrested i-in London? What is that all about?" Jay Leno asked Shelly on TV.

"Your mom was arrested?" Ian asked.

"Shhh, busy beaming with pride," Sophia said.

"This is kind of embarrassing, but occasionally after I've been intimate with a man..."

"Now why would she say that's embarrassing?"

"I just get this craving for Kung Pow Chicken."

"THAT'S TOO MUCH INFORMATION, MOM!" Sophia yelled.

"Alright, so now you're doing this whole book tour thing, how is that going?" Leno asked.

"Oh, fine. I'm leaving for Atlanta tomorrow, which I hate- but I get to see my daughter, who I love..."

"Awww!" everyone in the room said.

"This is the way that I find out. Most moms use the phone."

The next few days passed by in a blur, especially the moment when Ian walked in on Joseph accidentally kissing Sophia's mom. The morning after the incident, Joseph stopped by Ian and Sophie's place.

"Hey, is Sophie here?" Joseph asked when Ian opened the door.

"Yeah," Ian replied. Joseph dragged Ian out onto the porch and slammed the door.

"Okay, uh, about last night, um, Ian.. you didn't tell..." Ian shook his head. "Okay, 'cause I'm thinking- we don't need to tell Sophie, I mean, it was just a kiss, right? One kiss? No big deal? Right?"

"Right. No big deal."

"Okay."

"In Bizarro World! You broke the code!"

"What code?"

"You don't kiss your friend's mom! Sisters are okay, maybe a hot-lookin' aunt... but not a mom, never a mom!"

"What are you guys doing out here?" Sophia asked, opening the door and picking up the morning newspaper.

"Uh.. uh.. Well, Ian and I had discussed getting in an early morning racquetball game. But, um, apparently, somebody overslept."

"Yeah, well, you don't have your racket."

"No, no I don't, because it's being restrung, somebody was supposed to bring me one."

"Yeah, well you didn't call and leave your grip size."

"Okay, you guys spend waaaay too much time together," said Sophia before walking back into the house, closing the door.

"Okay, I'm scum, I'm scum," said Joseph.

"How could you let this happen?"

"I don't know, God, I...was drunk and well, it's not like she's a regular mom, y'know? She's, she's sexy, she's..."

"You don't think my mom's sexy?"

"Well... not in the same way..."

During lunch time, Joseph was talking to Sophia while Ian was making a snack at the bar.

"Oh my God."

"You're my friend. I-I had to tell you."

"I can't believe it. Trevino kissed my mom?"

"Yeah, um, I don't know if you noticed, but he had a lot to drink, and you know how he gets when he's drun..uh..." Joseph caught Ian glaring at him. "I can't do this, I did it, it was me, I'm sorry, I kissed your mom."

"What?"

"I think I had too much tequila, and Shelly- um, Mrs. Mom- your King- was just being nice, y'know, and- But nothing happened, nothing- Ask Ian, Ian, uh, came in-"

"You knew about this?" Sophia asked Ian, shocked.

"Uh... y'know, knowledge is a tricky thing."

"I spent the entire day with you, why didn't you tell me!"

"Hey, hey, hey, you're lucky I caught them when I did, or who knows what else woulda happened."

"Thanks, man, big help," Joseph said.

"I can't believe this! What the hell were you thinking?" Sophia yelled.

"I wasn't- I mean, I-"

"Y'know, of all my friends, no-one knows the crap I go through with my mom more than the two of you."

"I know-"

"I can't believe you did this." Sophia walked toward the door.

"Sophie."

"Me neither, y'know what-" Ian began.

"I'm still mad at you for not telling me."

"What are you mad at me for?!"

"Sophie."

"Let me slam the door!" Sophia left, slamming the door.

"Sophie, I didn't kiss her, he did! See what happens when you break the code?" Ian asked. Later that day, Katerina met with the cast minus Sophia who was still spitting mad.

"Hi guys!" said Kat.

"Hey!"

"How'd it go?" Ian asked.

"Um, not so good. He walked me to my car and said 'We should do this again!'"

"Ohh. Ouch."

"What? He said 'we should do it again', that's good, right?" Candice asked.

"Uh, no. Loosely translated 'We should do this again' means 'You will never see me naked,'" Torrey replied.

"Since when?

"Since always. It's like dating language. Y'know, like 'It's not you' means 'It is you'. Or 'You're such a nice guy' means 'I'm gonna be dating leather-wearing alcoholics and complaining about them to you,'" Paul replied.

"Or, or, y'know, um, 'I think we should see other people' means 'Ha, ha, I already am,'" said Ian.

"And everybody knows this?" Candice asked.

"Yeah. Cushions the blow," said Joseph. Candice frowned and then left as Sophia entered the house.

"What was that?" Sophia asked.

"Oh, uh, Candice just asked…" Joseph began.

"Yeah, I believe I was talking to Ian, alright there, Mother-Kisser?" Sophia asked.

"Mother-Kisser," Ian laughed. Joseph glared at him. "I'll shut up."

"Sophia, can I just say something? I-I know you're still mad at me, I just wanna say that there were two people there that night. Okay? Two sets of lips."

"Yes, well, I expect this from her. Okay? She's always been a Freudian nightmare."

"Okay, well, if she always behaves like this, why don't you say something?"

"Because it's complicated, it's complex- Hey, you kissed my mom!" All the cast looked at Joseph.

"We're rehearsing a Greek play," Joseph explained.

"That's very funny. We done now?"

"No! Okay, you mean, you're not gonna talk to her, you're not gonna tell her how you feel?"

"That would be no. Look, just because you played tonsil tennis with my mom doesn't mean you know her. Alright? Trust me, you can't talk to her."

"Okay, 'you' can't, or you can't?" Joseph pointed his finger at Sophie and she grabbed his finger. "Okay, that's my finger."

"You know I have a black belt in tai-kwon-do." Sophie twisted his finger and Joseph went down on one knee.

"That's my knee."

That night was Shelly's last night in Atlanta and Sophia had finally decided to confront her mother.

"You kissed my best Joseph! ...Or something to that effect," said Sophia.

"O-kay. Look, it, it was stupid," said Shelly.

"Really stupid."

"Really stupid. And I don't even know how it happened. I'm sorry, honey, I promise it will never happen again. Are we okay now?"

"Yeah. No. No..." Meanwhile, Ian was listening outside the door.

"Ah, the forbidden love of a man and his door," said Joseph.

"Shh. She did it. She told her off, and not just about the kiss, about everything," said Ian.

"You're kidding."

"No, no. She said 'When are you gonna grow up and start being a mom?'"

"Wow!"

"Then she came back with 'The question is, when are you gonna grow up and realize I am your mom?'"

"So, what's going on now?

"I dunno, I've been standing here spelling it out for you!" Suddenly, the door opened and two ran to the back of the house.

"You okay, kiddo?" Shelly asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright." A few minutes later, Joseph walked into the house.

"Hey," said Sophia.

"You mean that?"

"Yeah, why not." They hugged. "So I told her."

"Yeah? How'd it go?"

"Awful. Awful. Couldn'ta gone worse."

"Well, howdya feel?"

"Pretty good."

"Well, see? So, maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, y'know, me kissing your mom? Huh?" He wagged his finger at her and then put it down. "But.. we don't have to go down that road."

The following day, Sophia was on the phone in the kitchen.

"Aunt Syl, stop yelling! All I'm saying is that if you had told me vegetarian lasagna, I would have made vegetarian lasagna. Well, the meat's only every third layer, maybe you could scrape. Syl, I did this as a favor, I am not a caterer. What do you want me to do with a dozen lasagnas? Nice talk, Aunt Syl. You kiss Uncle Freddie with that mouth?" Sophia sighed and hung up as Ian and Paul walked into the house after a run. They were shocked when they saw Torrey sitting on the couch.

"Hey, sweetie," said Sophie as she kissed her husband,

"Hey. Oh, I can't believe she out run you man," said Ian to Paul.

"HEY, SHE'S FAST! OKAY! Oh! You-you think you can be beat me? Let's go! Outside again!" Paul then realized he was yelling. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little…"

"Slow?" Sophia asked. Ian laughed.

"Oh you want some! Okay, get the shoes on! Let's go!"

"It's cool okay? You're the fastest," said Sophia as Derek entered the house from the back door. Ian looked at him angrily.

"Yo, paisan! Can I talk to you for a sec? Your tailor is a very bad man!"

"Frankie? What're you talking about?" Derek asked.

"What's going on?" Sophia asked.

"Your brother's tailor took advantage of me yesterday."

"What?"

"No way. I've been going to the guy for 12 years."

"Oh come on! He said he was going to do my inseam, and he ran his hand up my leg, and then, there was definite..."

"What?" Sophia asked.

"Cupping."

"That's how they do pants! First they go up one side, they move it over, then they go up the other side, they move it back, and then they do the rear." Sophia and Ian looked at each other and then at Derek. "What? Sophie, would you tell him? Isn't that how they measure pants?"

"Yes, yes it is. In prison! What's the matter with you?"

"What? That's not? Oh my God."

After the boys cleaned up, they left to get groceries for dinner, Torrey leaving with them to make sure they got the right things. When Sophia walked downstairs after a shower, she saw Joseph in the house sweeping with a broom.

"Hey, Jomo, what 'cha doing?"

"Sweepin'. Why? Turn you on?"

"No."

"Huh. What if I was sweeping a chimney?" Sophia shook her head and began to walk toward the front door. "Where are you going? The vicar won't be home for hours." Sophia froze.

"Joseph, where'd you learn that word?"

"Where do you think…Zelda?"

"You found my book!" Sophia gasped.

"Yeah I did!"

"Joseph, what are you doing going into my trailer!"

"Okay, look I'm sorry, I went in there to take a nap and I know I shouldn't have, but you got porn!"

"Hey-hey, y'know what? I don't care! I'm not ashamed of my book. There's nothing wrong with a woman enjoying a little…erotica. It's just a healthy expression of female sexuality, which by the way, you will never understand." Ian then walked into the house.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

"Nothing!" said Sophia, embarrassed.

"Damn, this coffee I got is cold. Hey, Soph, do you mind if I heat this up on your loins?" Joseph and Ian laughed.

"Joseph! I can't believe you told him!" Sophia yelled. Everyone laughed.

THE END


End file.
